Soul-Mates
by AutumnSiren29
Summary: After days of constant pain and a violent vision, Harry catapults himself into a position that changes the war-front against Tom Riddle that nobody ever thought of. With the houses more united now, Harry knows the battles to come will be the worst ever. Can he survive it all and what of those who have been affected already? Slash warning.
1. Chapter I: A New Starting Place

**_Soul-mates_**

**A/N:** I know, I know; already with the author's notes? However, this important so listen up my fellow readers'. This story is completely opposite of Dark Phoenix, but it is in no way an opposite companion story to it. This takes place after the DoM fiasco and Sirius is dead, so spoiler alert if you haven't read the fifth book. Harry is sixteen already at the beginning as well and you will find out why soon enough…

_**Chapter I:**_ A New Starting Place

Lord Voldemort was very angry right now and he was in no mood to be placated. His anger radiated off of him like a spreading plague as he awaited Lucius Malfoy in the entry hall for an explanation.

The plan had been simple enough that they should have had no trouble obtaining the full prophecy, but low and behold; the Potter brat and his sidekicks came to the hall of prophecy and ruined it.

Bellatrix should have known better than to engage them, but she was insane, so he decided that Lucius would be the one to answer this one.

A pop of apparition was heard and he was allowed in by the minor death eater at the door. Lucius bowed low and prostrated himself before his master in subservience.

"My lord, you summoned me?" He asked when he was allowed to rise

The dark lord glared at the elder blonde with malice, "Yes, I did and I want answers from you."

Lucius seemed rather nervous underneath his mask, "I will answer to the best of my abilities."

"Why did the mission at the Department of Mysteries fail?" He asked

"The Potter child and his friends had arrived before us like planned and had removed the correct sphere. We then attempted to take it from them, but they resisted us and quite well unfortunately. We had chased them nearly all over the rooms in the area before the Order showed up there as well and we had not accounted for it. Potter by then had been so angry that he literally smashed the sphere of the prophecy and so we engaged them hoping to give us all time to evacuate the premises. Unfortunately, you know from here what happened."

The dark lord looked less than impressed and his mind was now lost to incoherency with anger, "Crucio." He yelled as his wand was pointed at the blonde man

Lucius fell to his knees in agonizing pain as he screamed in distress.

"It looks like you've used the last of your usefulness Lucius, and so I hope that you don't mind when your son knows he is to take your place and knows the true meaning of the words 'death eater.'"

Lucius's face drained of all its color as he remained silent and the dark lord pointed his wand at him again.

"Avada Kedavra."

The green light hit Lucius fast and he fell to the floor gracefully as a minor death eater vanished his body to the foyer of Malfoy Manor. Later that day, Narcissa discovered the body and screamed in agony for the pain the death caused her.

Meanwhile at Hogwarts, a sixteen year old boy with wild and untamable black hair and verdant emerald green eyes had been laid up in the infirmary for the last three days in atrocious pain.

The matron had done all she could and the rest of the staff within the school hoped the dark lord would ease up soon or Harry may go insane. Even the dour Potions Master was for once, concerned for him, though nobody else knew that. The boy they worried about was none other than Harry James Potter and the one foretold of to defeat the dark lord.

For three days he had been in constant pain through their connection and for three days he suffered as he watched the dark lord torture his own followers for answers as to what had happened in the Department of Mysteries mere months ago after the true prophecy had been revealed to him and he and his friends escaped there within inches of their lives.

The last straw broke in Harry when Tom Riddle killed Lucius Malfoy. Harry held no love of the Malfoy family, but he also knew that they were forced into subservience after Lucius's father Abraxas had been friends with Riddle in school and he had made his son follow him. Draco's mother was sure to tell her son of the on-goings, but Harry wanted to give Draco a wake-up call when he was released. He knew by now he had to be in the hospital wing, so he would need to be better and approved by Madame Pomfrey to be let out of there first.

Hopefully, it would not be too late by then...


	2. Chapter II: Wake-up Draco!

**_Chapter II_:** Wake-up, Draco!

Harry was let out of the infirmary within the next four days and it was now the first week of October. He was anxious to approach Draco, but he knew the inevitable was to come. He had to do this whether he liked it or not.

Draco's face was very pale now, or more than it normally was and he seemed to be thinking hard about something all through dinner that evening. He barely touched his food, which was understandable to Harry due to the Prophet lambasting his father for being a death eater and then the articles gloating about his death on the front page.

Harry internally felt sympathy for the blonde since he had never had to deal with this type of attention before. When Draco finally decided to leave early, Harry knew this might be his only chance for some one-on-one chatting with him.

Hermione grabbed his arm, "Where are you going?"

Harry smiled complacently, "I just want to go to the bathroom, Hermione. Is that a crime now too?" he asked innocently

Hermione swatted at him as he laughed and moved out of the way towards the doors.

* * *

Harry found Draco in the owlry and apparently just gazing out the window at nothing.

"Come to poke fun at me, have you Potter? Draco snarled in malice, "Well too bad, since I don't care if have or not."

"I didn't come to make fun of you Draco, but I want you to follow me as there is something you need to see in regards to your father's death?" He asked quietly

Draco stared at him before he snorted, "And what would there be to know other than my father died serving a maniac hell-bent on world domination and was killed by the aurors that caught him on his latest mission due to the Ministry lifting the ban on the use of the Unforgiveables for the aurors."

Harry looked to the ground, "That's where you're wrong though Draco. Your father wasn't murdered by the aurors at all. The dark lord killed him when he and his group failed their mission at the end of last term and he wanted answers for it. The man killed by the aurors was polyjuiced and your father's body was with your mother at the manor."

Draco looked intently at Harry at this, "You're serious then about the information you have?" He asked suddenly

Harry nodded, "Without a doubt it was the dark lord and I can prove it to you, but you'll have to follow me to somewhere else first. It is not safe to have this kind of conversation here as you know."

Draco seemed indecisive, so Harry gave him and extra shove mentally in his direction.

"Your father told your mother to tell you that he was sorry and that he hopes you make the right decisions. He never wanted this to happen, but it was only a matter of time in the end and this was prior to the dark lord killing him with the Killing curse; about two days or so, I think. He was locked with her in your home on watch by other death eaters for him at the time." Harry said quietly

Draco stared, "If he said that, then that meant my father was tortured before he was killed and possibly several times before his last one and then his death. Alright, I'll follow you to wherever you want to go, even though I don't know how much good this will do me anyways."

* * *

Harry led Draco to the room of requirement and asked it to provide him a pensieve for the memories to be viewed. They entered and noticed the comfortable sitting are with the pensieve on the coffee table. They sat down and Harry closed his eyes as he tapped his head and drew the memories forward and out into the bowl of shimmering water within the pensieve. Harry looked at Draco now seriously.

"There is something you must know before you enter these memories of mine Draco, and I advise discretion due to the level of maturity needed to handle them. You must be curious after all; about how I should even be aware of these happenings, let alone how I know of information that the others all around us do not have?" He asked the blonde quietly

Draco narrowed his eyes, "Of course I am, but I did not think you'd tell me?"

Harry stood up silently with his back straight and tall and he had turned his back to Draco as he gazed absently into the fireplace there. It was the first time Draco realized exactly how mature Harry was now due to his role in the war and of how handsome he'd become. His family genetics had been kind to him for sure.

"Do you truly wish to know the truth to this answer?" Harry asked softly

Draco was astounded by the level of trust Harry showed towards him but nodded nonetheless as he admired the dimly lit room and the low-light fire that made Harry's face seem even more appealing while the emerald eyes sparkled softly in the low-lighting towards him. Draco could feel the beginning of a strange emotion he never really felt before as well as the stirring of arousal before he squashed it and forced his mind to focus.

"You know by now that I defeated the dark lord once as an infant and that thereafter he and his followers were disbanded for many years. Nearly eleven years went by without his presence being seen again. What you don't know is that I was prophesized to be the one to defeat him entirely for good before I was ever born. When he came to my parent's home on Halloween of 1981 and tried to kill me; he left me as an orphan and with only one mark upon me as his curse rebounded upon him. The lightning bolt scar on my forehead." Harry said quietly, "This much I am sure you know besides the part of the prophecy."

Draco nodded as he listened to Harry's story for once and found that he was absently curious as to the rest of it since whatever he had been told was either a lie or a partial truth and he wanted to know the real story.

"The scar on me is more than just a magical wound mark, Draco. The scar that the dark lord marred me fifteen years ago now allows me to see into his mind at times when he is particularly angry or some other similar emotion and be able to know what he is up to. Beyond this, there are other things it allows me to do; but, they are irrelevant for now. However, you know that I was in the infirmary for the three days before today, and the real reason I was there was due to the pain in the visions he caused me to feel through the connection in my scar to him versus whatever the headmaster told the rest of the student body. I believe he said something else as to keep the true reasoning a secret from the dark lord otherwise I'd be in trouble."

"When the dark lord casts a Cruciatus on one of his followers or a prisoner he has captive, I feel it just as if I were there in front of him and he was using it on me even though we might be hundreds or even thosands of miles apart. For three days, the dark lord questioned numerous followers about the events that happened last term and tortured them for failure and answers that displeased him. When your father was finally called to him from Malfoy Manor, he was already in pain from the last round of torture still. I could tell because I have first-hand experience at being under Tom's Cruciatus." Harry said slowly

Draco appeared horrified, "When did that happen?"

Harry glanced at him, "During the Triwizard's third task after we were portkeyed to another location and after Cedric Diggory was murdered. This was also when Tom was re-born in a dark ritual using a bone of his father he hated, the flesh of his servant wormtail that was willingly given to him, and...my blood that forcibly taken from me that night." Harry said bitterly

Draco appeared pale and as if he might be sick now.

"Anyways, when your father gave no more an answer than the rest of them had; Tom lost it finally in his anger at them all and killed him out of petty anger for all of their failures and saying he had lived out his usefulness to him and that you would take his place and know the true meaning of the words 'death eater' soon enough." Harry told him somberly

Draco paled even more to that and so Harry plowed ahead.

"The man they polyjuiced was another of his lower death eaters in his service who was discovered as a traitor for socializing with someone they considered light-sided and giving them information. He was punished by death and then his body was used to double your father's for the auror's, so your mother could at least bury his true one in Malfoy Manor's cemetary. Tom has at least enough respect to allow this considering Lucius's years of dedication to him, although forced." Harry sneered

"But now you will need to see the events in here to believe it yourself." Harry said

Draco nodded intently as he entered the pensieve to view the atrocious acts. When he returned, Draco shivered in a sense of dread.

"You weren't lying." Draco said, "I thought you were crazy and out of your own head, but you were right and you told me the complete truth. All these articles about you being crazy is just wrong when you know better than anyone else what's happening around here."

Harry smiled, "Yes well, perhaps I've just gotten more use to it as time went by."

Harry sat down on the floor beside Draco, "What do you plan to do? Your father is gone and your mother is in distress from grief over his murder at the hand of the man her husband followed by force in fear for your family's safety."

"You must feel at least sad somewhat that he's gone, too. Lucius wanted you to make the right choice that he couldn't make because Abraxas was overbearing on him I believe, but you also know that is a hard road if you choose either of them. To stay as his follower or to renounce the ties your family had altogether to the dark lord and fight to avenge your father's death with me on the light-side."

Draco shook his head, "It's so hard to believe he's gone to begin with even though he wasn't the best of fathers'. I knew he loved and cared for me deep down, but I resented the fact he couldn't find it in himself to stay away from that mad-man. He trained me to take his place in time, but to know I might not have to is almost a relief. For so long, I was told what to do by him and now that I can make my choices…it's like not knowing who you are any longer but wanting to find yourself again too." He said almost to himself

"Draco, if you'd like; I'd offer you my friendship in exchange for your allegiance to the light side so you can avenge your family. Ron and Hermione might take a while to sway to the idea, but I'm sure you can convince them of your sincerity to do the right thing if this is what you want?" Harry asked him hesitantly

Draco looked at him uncertainly, "You would trust me after everything we've said and done to each other?"

Harry looked to the fire again, "We are soon going to be at war again Draco, and I am at one of the pinnacle pieces of it. The time for childish taunts and name-calling is over and now we must all work together if the wizarding world is to survive Tom's wrath."

Harry looked upward, "I never truly hated you as a person at all Draco; I have just hated how the pureblood traditions ingrained in to you from childhood blinded your intellect from seeing the true disguise of what was in front of you. Blood purity has really nothing to do with magical potential. Hermione is muggle-born and you know she is the most powerful female witch in our year whether or not you choose to deny it."

"She can cast just about any spell she is told of; given time to research and practice like all the rest of us. Whereas Neville is pureblood and before last year, we all thought he was going to end up being found out as a squib just because he had so much trouble with the simplest spells? He's really not a squib, but he has been so downtrodden because of his grandmother that he had low self-esteem. She would always be comparing his lack of accomplishments for his age to his father, which never helped." Harry told him

"I believe that magic itself in its full potential comes not from your blood status and ancestry, but more from the environment in which you were raised and your determination to make something of yourself when everyone else says you never will." Harry told him honestly

Draco remained silent and knew not what to say to this. He had for so long been taught of how blood purity was so important, but now he truly wondered if Harry and his side did have a point in this.

He knew Hermione was smart as a witch, but the fact she was muggle-born made even more surprising as to how quickly she could grasp at some of the most ancient and arcane knowledge when presented to her.

"Harry, I think I finally understand why my mother always never argued with my father about blood purity now. My father had a more traditional view of the custom, but even though my mother was formerly a Black; she believed blood was only used for legal matters if necessary or similar matters. Other than this, she did not care if she talked to someone who was muggle-born or half-blood. Of course, she couldn't do this freely with Bellatrix and my father around, but she was of a different opinion though she could not openly show it."

"I will take your offer of friendship and I want that bastard to pay for the pain he's brought my family over the years. Technically I am the new Lord Malfoy now, and so when I return home for Christmas holidays; the dark lord will no longer be welcome in our home." Draco said firmly

Harry smiled, "Thank you Draco, and this thanks comes from myself not only as Harry Potter; but also as Lord Peverell and Lord Black. I will need more allies and friends in the near future as the war breaks further outward, and I believe I know a way we can convince your fellow house-mates not to follow him as well."

Draco looked momentarily stunned, "You're Lord of the House of Peverell?" He questioned hesitantly

Harry raised an eyebrow to this, "Yes, as the Potter clan descended originally from Ignotus Peverell. The dark lord branches from Antioch Peverell as well though, so we are in some form related, but it is not close enough to consider it a healthy acknowledgment. Cadmus Peverell never married and so he had no heirs. Why do you ask this?" He said curiously now

Draco was hesitant, "Then you know the story of the three hallows, correct?"

Harry smirked, "Oh, you mean the one that's considered a child's fairy tale of my ancestor and his brothers that held them. The elder wand of Antioch, the resurrection stone of Cadmus, and death's own cloak of invisibility from Ignotus?"

Draco nodded silently, "So the tale is true then?"

"It depends on perspective." Harry said, "I do have the cloak for certain and I know you've seen me with it before though Professor Snape never did find me with it and I think that irritates him, but I honestly can't say that I care." Harry smirked as Draco seemed confused, "I know not where the resurrection stone is either, but the elder I have safely hidden from the headmaster and from the dark lord as well."

Draco was astounded by this, "Why would you hide it from the headmaster? Isn't he your mentor or something?"

Harry smirked at this, "You'd think so wouldn't you? Let me just say this Draco; if it wasn't for the Headmaster and his meddlesome and interfering ways, I would have grown up in a wizarding household after my parents death with people who loved and cherished as their own even if I wasn't. Hwever, since the headmaster interfered in this, I did not grow so like this."

Draco remained silent and did not know what to say.

"Time has grown short and curfew will be soon, so I will not be able to discuss my plan on how to get your house-mates on our side with you tonight. When is your free period tomorrow?" Harry asked him

"It's directly before lunch?" He answered in a questioning

"Good, mine too; so let's me meet here again then and I'll explain my idea to you and you'll tell me whether you think it would work or not?" Harry asked

Draco considered, "Very well then, but how do we explain our absences if we accidentally end up having lunch here while ironing out this idea of yours?"

"Any way you wish to, as long as it actually sounds feasible. I doubt your companions would believe you if you told them you left to go have a secret rendezvous with me somewhere?" Harry smirked as Draco's face flushed red

"What?!" He yelped

Harry smirked again at him, "Well, I just thought if you told them that; they'd be more likely to beat you up to knock some sense into you rather than just nod and let it go."

"You are crazy Potter." Draco said with a tightness to his throat that said he was embarrassed

"So I've heard, but we are still meeting tomorrow right?" He asked him

"Yeah, just don't have an aneurism if I arrive late due to Pansy hounding me about where I am going, since she believes I like her enough to marry her and make her the next Lady Malfoy. Honestly, I swear she's dense but she is a good friend regardless."

Harry nodded, "We should go if we don't want to be caught by Filch now, and Draco" Harry said

Draco turned to him.

"Let not a word of what I said be known in your house yet. Take this as my way of showing I want to truly trust you." Harry said

Draco nodded his head silently as they parted ways and thought over all he had been told.


	3. Chapter III: A New Regime Begins

**_Chapter III:_**_ A New Regime Begins_

It had taken nearly a week for Harry to convince Hermione and Ron of Draco's sincerity to change sides after he had revealed the truth of his father's murder to him. They had yelled at him for being so trusting with the blonde, but Harry held his ground and told them that no matter what house you were in; there were larger things going on right now and everyone in any house had the right to choose a path for themselves.

He told them he approached him because Draco deserved the truth and not some half-truth that would be fed to him from someone who wanted him to do what they wanted him to. He was Lord Peverell now, and Tom knew it and was angry about it.

Hermione and Ron went quiet at this; not knowing how to respond.

Draco and Harry's meeting had been postponed three times now so Ron and Hermione could be convinced further, and he had told them of the first meetings on-goings. The truth of the matter was they held a grudge over Malfoy for the things he'd said and done when he never wanted to do them and the fact he had kept Harry's secrets from his house so far was proof of this.

Yet Ron and Hermione were sure this was some trick he was pulling until the time was right to reveal it all to the rest of his house-mates.

"Ron, Hermione; the only thing I can tell you do now is to come with me when I meet him again and question his motives for yourselves. I need more than just Gryffindor on my side for this war to go in my favor and Draco rules the student body of Slytherin House inside of Hogwarts Castle. If he sides with me altogether; there is a large chance the rest can be convinced to as well. Then the rest of the school will follow suit because they will see a Gryffindor and Slytherin united front."

"Isn't this what the Sorting hat has warned us for years now to do? To be able to place our house rivalries and grudges aside, so that the negative feelings faded and we can call a truce between the houses to then end a war that could destroy all of us later?" Harry yelled at them again

Ron and Hermione flushed red as they remained quiet.

"Draco has made it clear as day he wants this as he has not revealed anything to his house-mates for a week now and you still do not want to give him the benefit of the doubt that anyone can change when given the proper opportunity. Isn't that a little prejudicial?" Harry asked quieter now

Finally Hermione gave in and sighed, "Alright Harry, you win for now. We'll come and meet him with you and see this change for ourselves. However, Ron and I still hold the reservations we have that he is truly changed"

Harry smiled, "I never asked you two to believe he would totally change all his ways in one night, Hermione. In fact, I believe Draco will still be a pain in my ass sometimes, but it far less so than it has been for the last six years."

They seemed more convinced by this now and agreed to come along with him next time. Harry sent a note coded to Draco to meet them in the room they went to before tomorrow before lunch.

The next day's morning classes went by smoothly and with any kind of fighting at all in the hallways between them. This further convinced Harry's two friends that maybe they had been wrong and should give Draco the benefit of the doubt Harry asked them for.

So, before lunch the three went to the room of requirement and waited for the blonde. Ten minutes passed and Ron along with Hermione seemed anxious. Harry however seemed calm as ever. His friends had noticed his new maturity at the beginning of the year due to his role in the war. They thanked the stars for it most times as it had leveled out Harry's atrocious temper somewhat. But, he still had that fire in his temper when he was truly angry.

At ten past noon directly, the door opened and the blonde hair that only could be Draco Malfoy had appeared. He wore a disgruntled expression and seemed irritated about something or the other.

"I see Pansy was firmer in finding out wherever you were headed this time?" Harry asked the blonde

He made a scowling face at Harry.

"She is a good friend, but she is too dense to realize that I do not want her affection nor do I need her mothering me and telling me to be careful all the time. It is not as though I cannot protect myself. I swear one day she is going to go too far and I may do something I will regret." He said

"Draco, there is nothing wrong with someone caring about your welfare." Harry said tightly

Draco looked at him, "I know, but it's just too much smothering sometimes. It drives me mad and want to climb a tree to get away from her, you know?" He smirked

Harry smirked at him, "I know exactly how that feels, believe me."

He diverted his eyes at Hermione before she noticed and the Harry smiled.

"So now that we are all here, I believe Ron and Hermione want to ask you something Draco?"

Draco sighed, "I figured this was coming anyways. Alright, I will try and answer your question to the best of my capabilities as long as we do not delve too far."

The two behind Harry seemed shocked at his forwardness and his willingness to give in to their curiosity. They all sat by the fire on the floor, but Harry surprised Draco by sitting beside him to show he stood by his word.

This action reinvigorated Draco to make the change, as no one had ever willingly wanted to trust him before and the action meant more to Draco than he could express.

"Draco, you realize now Harry is an important figure to the war and he will always be hunted for as number one on Tom's hit-list. Your father's death has woken you to his true ideals, but Ron and I want to make sure this change is true and not blinded by a sense of getting revenge." Hermione said

"Avenging your family is all well and good, but if we win and there is nothing else to go back to; what good is there from it?"

Draco nodded in understanding to her words.

"We want to know that if this change is genuine; that you will stay on our side and not think twice about going back. Harry needs all the help he can from people he considers an ally and possibly a friend."

Draco seemed to gather what they wanted to know, "Hermione, Ron; I cannot express my apologies enough for the first six years of strife I put on you all. I was led to believe in ideals that were bred into me from birth, but in recent times; those ideals have become somewhat inconsequential to the larger picture here."

"Harry's willingness to set the truth before me as to the nature of the real reasoning to my father's murder has made me realize that perhaps what I was led to believe isn't as truthful as I thought for years now." Draco sighed

"I will side with you all now and I intend to stay firmly put there. My father will be avenged. Lucius, as a teen, was forced into serving Riddle by my grandfather Abraxas a long-time ago. Abraxas and Riddle were friends here, and whilst Lucius never want to serve him; he feared what his father would do to him if he said no."

"I never knew my grandfather; he was a famous potions maker and had created several things that the dark lord uses now as combat potions. I know he died of dragon pox and this was before I was ever born."

"But Lucius was still forced to serve Riddle, and I will not make the same mistake twice. I have already told Harry that I am the new Lord Malfoy now, and that as such I will now take an active role in changing the belief in our community about what they want to see in my family."

"Last weekend, I went home to Malfoy Manor. Fortunately, the dark lord has moved into his own home, so I was able to speak to my mother about what I was planning on doing. My mother broke down and cried in happiness for the first time in years. I used the ancient familial magic on the wards of Malfoy Manor to secure my home from Tom Riddle. Bellatrix and her husband Rodulphus are no longer welcome there either nor is Rabastan."

"I hope by now you see that I intend to do what I can in my power to make things right." Draco said softly

Ron and Hermione were stunned by the confession and had remained silent as if thinking. It was then Ron made the first move to say something.

"Malfoy, I don't think I'd ever believe I would be saying this to you but…I believe you somehow and if I can say this; then there should be no doubt." Ron said sternly

Draco nodded.

"However, if you go back on your word; you know the price already you will pay for it. You will lose Harry's trust and friendship, and any sort of protection he could offer you would then be withheld. My family would be fighting fiercely to bring you down along with Hermione. So, all I have left to say is… do not make me regret trusting you now." Ron said

Draco seemed relieved, "I will try my best not to."

Harry smirked, "Well now that all this weird and emotional stuff is done between you three, I think Draco and I have some planning to do. So Hermione and Ron, you are able to go to lunch if you want now."

The other two took a hint and they stood to leave after giving Draco and Harry their goodbyes. Draco looked at Harry with a smirk, "You really do own Gryffindor House, don't you?"

Harry raised an eyebrow, "Of course, did you ever doubt that I didn't?"

Draco shook his head in mirth, "No, but some of the other might have been fooled."

"Anyways, what's this Slytherin Convert plan of yours?" Draco asked

Harry paused, "I am going to take a big risk, but I will sure my safety first before doing it. I don't think that revealing the truth of your father's death will be enough to sway them all in my favor. Nor do I think revealing your switch this early on is wise."

Draco seemed to think, "Perhaps, but what do you propose we do before then?"

"I need to get into your common room under my invisibility cloak. Then I will set up some secrecy wards unknown to the rest of your house. These wards will ensure that the information given to them will remain a secret until I know I can trust them all to keep it as such."

"Then after the ward is in place and I signal you; you will appear to have something come up and leave the common area. I will remove the cloak. We'll wait about ten or minutes before you return again and call a meeting of the house with everyone in attendance."

"I'll be in my cloak, but you can say whatever you want before I reveal myself to them. I figure shock is a good way to get them to respond. After this, I'll take over with phase two."

Draco raised an eye, "What is phase two exactly?"

Harry smirked, "A good look at my past and why I am not the pet of Albus Dumbledore everyone believes me to be. Also, a good look at what being a true 'death eater' is versus what they think it is."

"After this you can make some statement about the truth of your father's murder and if they question; we will both attempt to explain with my memories as best as we can."

Draco thought about it, "You're right; the plan has many risks and loopholes if it doesn't work the way you thought it would, but I believe if this goes on properly…we won't have too much to worry about and you will have converted my house to your favor." He said

Harry nodded, "I am glad you think so. Well, do you want to go to hall for the remainder of the lunch meal? Or could I convince you to stay here with me and eat?" Harry asked him

Draco looked at him suspiciously, "Why?"

Harry smiled, "I thought if we are to be friends and allies that perhaps it would best if we acted like it before we go on with your house. In order to do this however, we have to understand each other in ways they don't know of."

Draco seemed to agree, "Alright then let's eat here and start this friendship building session you seem so eager to start"

The sarcasm here was apparent to Harry.

Harry smirked at the blonde and snapped his fingers, "Dobby." He called

A small house-elf with large green tennis ball sized eyes appeared in flash of colors. He wore mismatched socks and had an array of colors of clothes that made Harry want to laugh.

"Harry Potter, sir! You called Dobby? What can Dobby be doing for Harry Potter?" He asked until he noticed Draco.

He squeaked and then hid behind Harry.

"It's alright Dobby, Draco won't hurt you. He is here on my request and we are discussing his switch to the light side now. The dark master killed Lucius a few weeks ago, and Draco doesn't wish to follow those steps." Harry told him

Dobby looked at Draco uncertainly and then at Harry for the truth. Harry's smile and sincerity made Dobby have hope that maybe the young master Malfoy would change for the better now.

"Alright, what can Dobby be doing then?" He asked

"Can you bring us lunch as we discuss something important?" Harry asked gently

Dobby nodded, "Certainly. Anything for Harry Potter, sir!"

Dobby vanished and appeared quickly again with lunch plates and then gave Harry a bone-breaking hug before he vanished out of sight once again.

Draco was utterly confused now, "That was our old house-elf, right?"

Harry nodded.

"How exactly does he know you and vice versa?" Draco asked

Harry smirked at the blonde as he realized his little scheme worked and Draco was starting the process of the trust building now.

"In our second year, Dobby came to my summer residence and warned me not to go back to school that year since terrible and atrocious acts would be committed there. He had intercepted all my mail that summer, hoping that if I thought my friends abandoned me that I would not want to go."

"However, that plan backfired on him when I chased him to grab the letters. My aunt and Uncle were downstairs hosting some guests and I had been warned to stay out of sight, but Dobby went out of the room and then levitated a cake my aunt made over the guest's wife's head."

"He threatened me that he would drop it unless I promised I would not go back to school. Of course I couldn't so Dobby dropped the cake on her and vanished from sight; making me appear the culprit behind the act."

Draco seemed interested in the tale, "What happened then?"

"I was locked in my room and my uncle had placed bars on my window in hopes this would keep me from going back to the school. That backfired when Ron and his older twin brothers got worried for my lack of response to the letters."

"That was what started the trouble Mr. Weasley had about his enchanted Ford Anglia."

"They drove it there under the cover of night and used it to pull the bars from the window. This was after the twins had snuck downstairs and retrieved my school things from the locked cupboard under the stairwell."

"My uncle tried to stop them from taking me by grabbing onto my foot, but I kicked him as they started driving and my uncle let go and fell from the window to the ground."

"When I stayed then at Ron's home, it was then I first saw a magical household and I loved it. But when we were due to return to school Dobby locked the platform to the train so Ron and I couldn't get on."

Draco started to realize, "So that's why you both made such a ruckus in getting here that year. You flew that car here from the station in broad daylight." He asked

Harry nodded and smiled, "Yes, we were younger and more stupid I guess. We were more worried about not being there and at the feast that our brains told us to fly the car there. Completely forgetting I had an owl at the time and could have sent one to the headmaster about the locked platform."

"Later on, Dobby was the one who had bewitched that damnable bludger to chase me during the quidditch match. Which then left Lockhart removing my bone in my arm, and me ending up in the hospital wing to re-grow them."

"Dobby then visited the hospital that night and apologized insincerely about locking the platform and the bludger while he expressed that it would have been better for me to have been expelled than to be at school where history was to repeat itself."

"That got me on my thinking nerve. By then numerous students had been attacked and the school was on the verge of closing if another one died like last time it had happened fifty years before. The school thought I had been doing it since we all discovered I was a Parselmouth that year." Harry said dryly

Draco flushed in embarrassment and muttered an apology.

"Don't apologize Draco, because it was this gift that allowed me to know exactly what was going on after that. All year I had been hearing a voice that no one else could hear and all it ever said was 'rip, tear, kill' in my ears, so I was worried."

Draco paled considerably, "I don't think I'd like that."

Harry smirked, "Well, that was the worst part until the end of the adventure that year."

"Why?" Draco asked curiously now

"Because a second year student should never have to battle a seventy foot basilisk hell-bent on killing you all because of a diary given to a female student." Harry said sadly

"A diary caused all that drama?" Draco yelped in shock

"Not exactly. Your late father had unwillingly given the diary to Ginny Weasley during his and Arthur's squabble in Flourish and Blotts bookstore. Later on, I found out the diary contained the memories of a bitter 16 year old Tom Riddle inside of it."

"The diary had urged Ginny to do things she never would have normally done. It had possessed her. Finally, it came down to Ron and me going to Lockhart for aid and exposing him as a fraud. Ron's faulty wand backfired on him after he grabbed it from Ron and tried to Obliviate me and him to forget he was a fraudulent crook who had taken others accomplishments and made them his in his books by making the true achievers forget they'd done it."

"Then when the tunnel to the chamber collapsed, Ron and I were separated on opposite sides of the fall. I went ahead to discover the diary Ginny had been given was draining away her life-force to revitalize Tom again."

"Tom called the basilisk and we battled. One its fangs had gotten lodged in my arms and the poison had set. This was much later on though. Fawkes brought me the sorting hat which gave me the sword of Gryffindor. The sword allowed me to kill the fiend when I shoved the blade through the beast's upper mouth and into its brain; effectively killing it."

"Tom had laughed at my efforts because the fang lodged in my arm was done as I killed it. Fawkes had retreated by then and I was so angry at Riddle since he seemed to think he had one. Until he noticed I had his diary and a basilisk fang in my hand too late."

"He tried to stop me, but I plunged the fang into the book several times over and his memory-self vanished and Ginny returned to life. I was dying though until Fawkes returned to me and cried on my wound from the snake."

"Phoenix tears have immeasurably powerful healing properties and the older the phoenix the more powerful they are. Fawkes was ancient as Dumbledore had him, but formerly he served Godric Gryffindor and before him Merlin."

"The tears Fawkes shed on me had evaporated the poison from my body and healed the wound mark, leaving no scarring there at all." Harry said

"I see." Draco said

"It was just before the end of term that your father visited the school and I remembered that it was him who had given the book to Ginny in the first place. The reason I did is because Ginny had tried to dispose of the book and I found it. The diary showed me false images from fifty years ago of what happened there."

"There's another little side adventure to this tale in relation to the images the diary told me, but we don't have time to discuss them. In the end, after I realized Lucius had given Ginny the diary and that Dobby served your father; I decided to play a prank on your father."

"I removed my sock and hid it in the diary and then tried to return it to him by telling him he was forgetting something. Lucius tried to deny it was his and threw the book at Dobby."

"Dobby discovered the sock and had told Lucius 'Dobby was given a sock. Master Lucius has given Dobby clothes..Dobby is free." Harry reiterated

"Lucius was less than pleased this and drew his wand on me, but Dobby yelled at him as his former master."

"You will not harm Harry Potter."

"The Dobby did some kind of magic and your father went flying down the hallway and down the stairs. He did not dare come back again for another round."

Draco seemed impressed, "Well, that was interesting. I had wondered why Dobby was set free to begin with and now I know why my father always looked irritated when I asked him to tell me why."

"But we better go now if we do not want to be late for charms class. However, can we keep meeting here and exchanged stories like this? I admit this one has made me curious of your other adventures here the last few years." Draco asked

Harry smiled, "Sure, why not? I mean it's not like were supposed to be keeping secrets anyways. That's not what friends do to each other. Admittedly though, there are just some things I do keep from Ron and Hermione because they are just too personal."

Draco raised an eyebrow with a smirk, "That will be the next story you tell me then."

Harry snorted, "Yeah right. It's your turn to tell next time, remember?"

Draco smiled as innocently as he could get to this, "Right…I forgot. Okay, so then you'll tell the time after that then."

Harry just snorted to that as they left separately to avoid suspicion from others and made their way to charms before it was too late and they were tardy.


	4. Chapter IV: Growing Bonds

**_Chapter IV:_**_ Growing Bonds_

After Ron and Hermione amended their ties to Draco, the rest of school remained unaware that things had changed for the most part. Although there was less fighting in the halls over trivial matters now; the school merely thought they had come to a standstill and so there was a fragile peace between Harry and Gryffindor House to Draco Malfoy and all of Slytherin House.

Meanwhile, as the school remained clueless, Harry and Draco continued to meet in the room of requirement before lunch each day to share different stories of them when they were younger. Most of Harry's stories consisted of things that had happened after he came to Hogwarts or of his adventures there. Draco wondered why he never divulged his stories of before Hogwarts, but was determined to find out one way or another.

Draco's stories were more of a mixed bunch than Harry's seemed to be. Some of them had told of some of the mischievous trouble he had gotten into at the manor when he was a lot younger or about the trouble he and Pansy had gotten into together. They had practically grown up together as children.

Then some of them were of interesting things that had occurred to Draco behind the scenes at Hogwarts from everyone else and had taken place throughout his years in Slytherin.

Last week had been his turn again and he had regaled the tale of how he had been playing hide and seek in the manor with Pansy. Draco had told Harry that with such a large home, the innumerable of places to hide where you shouldn't would soon enough become inevitable.

They had laughed as Draco told him that Pansy had nearly caught him twice by then and they were both six years old, so Draco was trying not to be spotted as he searched for a new room to hide in.

Draco had smirked.

Oh he had found a room alright…

Draco told Harry he had went into a room and locked himself inside before he turned around. When he had at the time…he wished he hadn't.

Apparently his father as a teenaged boy and a young man while attending university had quite a thing for female adult porn and had quite the use for sex toys in absence of his mother around now and the room he had 'accidentally wandered into' must have been his secret 'adult playroom' because Draco had doubted his mother knew of it and Draco also knew she would have been angry if she did know of it.

Harry and Draco laughed uproariously as Draco told Harry how he had cornered his father once after Pansy left from their play-day and he vacated the room later when he had come home from work to ask him what a 'dildo' was and Lucius's face had drained of all its color to a very pale complexion.

His father asked him where he had learned that word from and this was just as his mother walked in from the laundry area and checking on the elves. Lucius and he had both noticed her, but Draco was determined to get his dad in trouble so he answered him.

Draco laughed, "I said to him, 'Oh dad come on, you know the room in the manor on the fourth floor with all those weird looking objects and the posters of nak-hmph."

"My father had hastily covered my mouth to keep me from finishing my sentence and his face was so white I thought was turning into a ghost." Draco laughed

They had both laughed until tears had come along and then ate lunch over trying to fine tune their Slytherin Conversion some more.

* * *

It was now nearly almost Halloween and it was about to roll around the corner in a few days and Draco noticed Harry's new sense of somber silence during this period as well. He understood somewhat though. Harry lost both his parents on Halloween, and so he held the day with a silence of remembrance and reverence as he grieved for their loss and not knowing how he would have grown up if they were still with him.

Harry and Draco were now both fairly comfortable in each other's presences when isolated from the rest of the school. Draco had something he wanted to ask the dark-haired friend he had come to respect, but he doubted he'd receive an answer.

Dobby had continued to bring their lunches to them when Harry requested it and told him that these meetings needed to be kept a secret from everyone else; including the headmaster. Dobby had nodded his head vigorously and promised to keep the secret.

Lunch today consisted of a bowl of homemade beef stew, small salad, and a bread roll with light butter. For a drink they had some steaming mugs of black tea with a small amount of sugar added to them. They appeared appreciative since the weather was getting cooler now. Quidditch practices had become harder on their bodies due to the dropping temperatures outside and the winds becoming bitter.

Harry sat and smiled, "So Draco is there anything in particular you wish me to tell you about myself today?"

Draco knew this might be his only chance, "Actually, there is something I've been curious about and wanted to know of."

Harry nodded, "Ask away then."

"I want to know more about you from before you came back to our world here." He asked seriously

Harry tensed and his back went rigid as his fork was laid down carefully beside his bowl of stew with care.

"Why do tense at this?" Draco asked

Harry looked away, "It is not that I do not wish to tell you…it is more that I don't know how you'll see me after I do. There are things about this part of my past that I have kept a secret from even Ron and Hermione. I've kept these secrets so long they've become almost parasitic in nature and the wounds they've caused me have never fully healed."

"In some way or another over the years, these wounds have affected me and my personality."

Draco seemed concerned now, "Harry, I know you well enough by now to know that your life isn't what most people want to think it is. Before I was your friend I could see it, but I chose to ignore it. This was done partially on my own and partially not. You cannot tell me that after all these stories we've shared that something like this is totally going to break it?"

Harry sighed, "It might and it might not. The possibility that it will is what frightens me most, but if you truly want to know about my childhood then be prepared for your ground to start shaking when I'm done."

Harry sighed heavily as he began the tale he never wanted to tell ever again.

"After I was left as an orphan, Sirius Black should have taken me in as my godfather, but he had been framed for the murder of my mum and dad since almost everyone had believed that he was their Secret-Keeper for the Fidelius Charm on my parent's home. He wasn't though, and the Death Eater you know of called Wormtail is actually Peter Pettigrew. His animagus form was a rat and so hence the name Wormtail."

"However, since Sirius was in Azkaban and I had no other living relatives of magical orientation, the headmaster had Hagrid bring me to him at my muggle relative's residence. The headmaster left me on their doorstep in my blanket from my crib, a warming charm, and a letter addressed to them."

Draco seemed furious, "He left you outside in a blanket on their front porch in October?"

Harry smiled at his indignation, "Draco, it was well past midnight and he did not want to knock on their door and cause a disturbance to the rest of the neighborhood. I don't agree with this, but I cannot change it now."

Draco remained silent and with a scowl to his features.

"Anyways, after this I was taken in by them to be reared. However, my muggle relatives did not wait on me every single second of the day nor was I ever treated as though I was fed from a silver spoon." Harry said darkly

Draco looked at him intently now.

"These relatives of mine hated anything to do with our world and me even more so. My mother's sister was so jealous that my mum was a witch and she would be able to do things she would never be able to. She also hated that my mum had natural beauty and she had to work her ass off just to get a date. Her husband Vernon was of an alike mind to this and they had raised this same prejudice in their son and my cousin Dudley."

"From the time I could walk, talk, and reach the top of the stove in their kitchen with a step stool; I was the one who prepared all of their meals. Yet, I never at the table with them because I was considered a freak and unworthy to dine with such superior beings as them."

"In fact, at their home, I rarely ever ate at all. I was given a list of chores that was much too long for someone of five or six to think they could ever finish. What I did finished determined how much I received as food. However, if the required parts were not all done at the end of the day, I received a good beating and I went hungry for the night."

"I did all the cooking, cleaning, maintaining in that house. But I was treated similarly to what purebloods would do to a house-elf traditionally. I was rarely fed by them more than table scraps. I wore clothes much too large because they had first belonged to my cousin Dudley who was two or three time larger than me. When I needed glasses, my aunt had managed to swindle the doctor into believing she was a very poor woman and so I had these very ugly things for the longest time."

"My bedroom wasn't even a full room for the first eleven years I spent there. I actually slept on a threadbare cot in the cupboard under the stairs you've heard of before. For the first eleven years there, that was my room. I don't remember much of my infancy and toddler years enough to know if I was there then, but I presume I was because there were a lot of nights I was very scared of the dark and would cry. My aunt would wake and bang on the door. She told me to stop crying or else there would be trouble. She never held me or ever tried to comfort me at all during those nights and I had to endure the dark, face my fear and without crying again. Otherwise, I presume breakfast was withheld from me." He said sadly

"But this isn't even the half of it."

Draco continued to keep getting angrier on Harry's childhood treatment by his relatives due to the headmaster leaving him there as the story went on.

"I never knew I was wizard until I received my Hogwarts letter as well. My relatives never let me ask questions of my parents or my past to them. What I did learn from them was usually lies fed to me by them in hopes I would never get my letter period."

"They once told me that my mum was a prostitute and a whore while my dad was a jobless drunk, and that I was born out of wedlock from the two as a mistake that was never meant to happen. I knew they were lying though, so I shut up and left before I accidently lost control of the strange things that seemed to occur around me as a child when I was emotional."

"I never knew of accidental magic either. Once Dudley and his friends were chasing me around the school playground trying to catch me so they could beat me up for being weird. I managed to escape them by thinking I had jumped behind the school's garbage cans. I soon learnt I had 'accidentally apparated in panic' onto the school's roof. Let's say Uncle Vernon was less than pleased when he received a call from the administrator because I was 'climbing the school buildings.'"

"When I turned eleven, they also tried to keep me from getting my letter too. I remember moving around to all sorts of hotels, inns and more. After the first letter, more than one arrived at each new location. I think the total was one hundred same letters at once before the final one." Harry said

"My relatives hate me Draco, so there are not many stories I have of them that are fond and recalled with laughter like yours. I hope that this tale was not too depressing for you." Harry asked awkwardly

Draco remained silent for a moment as he tried to figure out what he wanted to say. This was as Harry was internally starting to panic when he said nothing. Harry stood up silently and prepared to leave.

"Harry, where are you going?" Draco asked him confused

Harry turned, "I thought you didn't want me here when you remained quiet, so I decided to leave before I did something I wasn't supposed to."

Draco realized then that below Harry's calm and strong Gryffindor exterior that he was actually quite fragile from the abuse his relatives purposely made him endure.

"I'm sorry I didn't respond; I was just trying to get my thoughts together. Harry, I am honestly glad you told me the story. I want to be your friend still and I also want you to know that if you want…you could come and stay with my mother and I if you want to for the holidays? I'm sure my mother won't mind and she'd love to be able to know the real you just like I have." Draco said softly

Harry was silent and distant, "I don't know what to say other than thank you, I guess and that I will think about it."

Draco nodded, "Pansy won't be there though, as I don't know yet how much trust I would place my friendship with her in not revealing you. It's a risk I am not willing to take. My mother thinks that keeping our friendship a secret is best for now besides those who already know of it, but she did not say much else."

"I see. Then maybe I might just stay then." Harry said

Draco walked over to Harry and laid a gentle hand on his shoulder in comfort as the two felt some soothing magical energy spark between them. Draco stared at his hand for a moment and then removed it slowly after shaking his head.

* * *

Meanwhile, as Harry and Draco continued talking in the room of requirement down the hall from Gryffindor dormitory, Ron and Hermione were busy in the common room with their transfiguration essay and discussing Harry and Draco's new friendship in hush-hush voices by the fire.

Harry had joyfully told the two that he had already finished all his assignments for the week, so he was free to do whatever he wanted. Hermione had been pleased by this news, but Ron had scowled at him for abandoning him to work with his girlfriend alone. She was terror sometimes when correcting your work…

Ron and Hermione had secretly begun to call these meeting between Harry and Draco their 'Story dates' as the two seemed to want to have this plan of theirs work for real sometime soon enough. Ron had commented on how much more Harry smiled after them and how relaxed he was. Hermione noticed this too and seemed to think it was good they were getting along so well until she thought of something more serious about this topic.

"Ron, I don't want to make you uncomfortable or anything since you know that we're dating and I like you a lot; but, I never thought about this before. What are the wizarding world's views on same-sex couples?" Hermione asked quietly to her boyfriend

Ron appeared pale but calm, "I know it's nothing like where you come from Hermione. They are accepted just as easily as we would be accepted, even by the older pureblood families unless someone in them is prejudiced against it. Not many are though any more. Our world has many old traditions relating to family lineage, and keeping blood strong and the line alive."

"But even traditions such as those cannot change the path of a person's love unless forced upon them by someone else, which is very rare nowadays. Our world is more about finding a partner that suits you and complements your abilities magically. The issue of a chosen partner for marriage should be that they care for you as much as you do about them than it is about being societally correct."

"Perhaps this is because same-sex couples can have children together in our world naturally or aided with potions too if they are too weak magically together in their magical signatures, but it is just much more difficult than it would be for a straight couple. Generally, the same-sex pair would consist of two powerful witches or wizards to accomplish it naturally."

"Should it occur naturally; the carrier parent would naturally grow a uterus if they were male to carry the child with as we do not have one in our anatomy system. Female carrier parents have no need for it as you should be aware for your own reasons. During birth the child is born through Cesarean section for a male because obviously we cannot do what a woman does during labor."

"Why do you ask me this now?" Ron asked her in a low tone

Hermione remained silent for a moment, "Ron, I am surprised how educated you sounded then. But then again, your mum was a healer before Bill was born. Anyways, have you noticed how happy Harry looks when he returns from one of his 'story dates with Draco?" She said

Ron nodded, "Well yes, I have noticed somewhat. He seems genuinely happy and relaxed when he returns from them. He rarely has an angry temper outburst now, thank heavens. I think this is good though." He said softly

Hermione stopped writing on her parchment, "Ron, do you think maybe Harry approached Draco for this idea because in time it was meant to happen as a part of his role in the war? That maybe by some odd and rare coincidence they are soul-mates and Lucius's murder only catapulted the situation we are seeing now regardless of the prophecy Harry has hanging on his shoulders?" She asked low

Ron stopped writing too now with wide eyes on his girlfriend.

"Hermione, I- I don't know. Possibly it's true, but if so then we need to just let things occur on their own between Harry and Draco. They need to do this bonding stuff between them to strengthen it and heal their own pasts together." He said finally

Hermione nodded, "I agree and you're alright with this?"

Ron seemed to relax now, "I'd be a hypocrite if I wasn't since Charlie has a boyfriend in Romania where he works as it is. However, if you'd have told me this story last year prior us going to save Sirius; I likely would have had you emitted to Mungo's accidental spell-damage ward." He said

Hermione smiled and nodded, "Ron, I know Harry needs to work on this with Draco mostly on his own, but perhaps since you're his best friend and another male he would talk to you more openly about his preferences in a partner of some kind."

"I'm not saying he wouldn't tell me if I'd have asked him, but because I'm female he may feel more uncomfortable. Plus, Harry and Draco are both from old and powerful families Ron. You realize this and what could potentially happen if they 'did it' together and realized the consequences later on?" Hermione scrunched her nose at the thought in embarrassment while her cheeks reddened

Ron's face now looked like a tomato and matched his flaming hair, "Hermione, no need to go any further with whatever you were going to say. I get it and yes…I will attempt to talk to Harry later on tonight since he needs to know about this now, even if he doesn't want to." Ron said low and in a grumbling tone.

Hermione just smiled and nodded to her boyfriend with red cheeks as they continued their essay.

A/N: I hope you enjoyed the rather nice mix of innocent and naughty in the beginning? I know I laughed myself to tears as I re-read it while editing it...Anyways, this is a note made to give you a heads up. The next two chapters are more as filler content one, yes I know you hate them... :ducks thrown tomatoes at her head: But these fillers are also in two perspectives. One for Draco's view and One of Harry's and they will sort-of add depth to the story in some way. These are not just there to sit and make nice fluff for you all. I cannot do that to you! So, as a warning that if you feel you could skip them...by all means do so, but be warned some of the later chapter might not make total sense if you neglect to read them.


	5. Interlude I: Draco's Discovery

Head's up everyone, just as a reminder...this chapter and the next one are more filler chapters to add some depth to the work somewhat. One from Draco's POV and the other in Harry's POV with extra characters involved. Now on with the show…

To Queen Paddie: I am not in the slightest way offended by your remarks from your last review. In fact, I want to thank you for being the first person who was so straightforward with me and my work. I respect that you did so in a non-derogatory way and I appreciate it more than you know. I understand my way of writing comes off to many as being overly very formal in set-up. It was just how I was taught to structure and write in private school. I don't mean for it to be this way all the time, but unfortunately…this is just something that probably will remain with me this way until I die due to how long it has already been that way.

Also, I understand where you come from on the character's being emotionally disconnected to their scenes and sounding quite monotone at times. I am a student with disabilities and I have Asperger's Syndrome. If you don't know what this is exactly; it is a high functioning form of Autism. I myself, am emotionally disconnected a lot because of the type of autism I have and this has made my childhood a nightmare for making and maintaining my friendships with the others around me.

I will try to be better about this issue in relation to the story, but please understand that with me never really having many people to associate with as a child, teen, and young adult has left me very unaware of social trends, I guess, and so I tend to talk more formal than most my age every single day than probably a lot of them ever will in real life as it is.

I appreciate the comments from you though, nonetheless.

**_Interlude I: _**_Draco's Discovery_

Draco's mind had been elsewhere through the rest of his classes that day and even Professor Snape had noticed it when Draco failed to answer his question upon asking it during their Potions lesson that afternoon. Draco had flushed in embarrassment slightly and asked to repeat it and Professor Snape had rolled his eyes had then looked thoroughly annoyed but did so anyways.

The blonde couldn't stop thinking about his and Harry's story session from before lunch and the actions made in the room. Draco had admitted to himself a while ago that he preferred his own gender over the female one and that Harry had aged and matured in a graceful and beautiful way when he had started to have these sessions with him in the room of requirement.

Draco flushed in the privacy of his room as he remembered his first time realizing exactly how handsome the raven-haired Gryffindor was when Harry had first brought him to the room of requirement almost two months ago now. Draco had never really noticed Harry this way before, but now that he had...there were just some things he could think of about them and it made his blood boil in a very pleasing manner.

Draco shook his head and tried to re-focus his thoughts now as he did not want to deal with a hard-on right now.

The fact was that Harry was nothing of what the public saw in him as a person except perhaps his courage and kindness for being their icon of hope and justice was so new to him now. The Harry he now knew better in person of was far more fragile and yet strong than anyone realized, including himself. He had been badly mistreated as a child and so he had his own insecurities, which were more understandable now than they had been previously on some occasions.

But yet Harry had not grown bitter, resentful, and full of any kind of malice despite his atrocious rearing at the hands of his own muggle relatives. Relatives who could have drown him in a river for all they knew and would never tell anyone where he went to because they had killed him out of their hate for their world.

It was astonishing to Draco at least at how very unobservant most of the school seemed now in comparison to beforehand when he had been blinded to a lot of things going on there. His eyes had been truly opened and his mind had been allowed to engage new perspectives due to a freedom he had never thought he would have when Harry saved his soul by telling him the truth about what had killed his father.

The school in general though; they absolutely adored Harry as their iconic hero figure and the hope of all man-kind. Most of the girls here wanted him to choose them as a girlfriend, and possibly life-long partner. The thought made Draco's hands clench in fury that was irrational since they had no idea of his new feelings towards Harry.

Draco saw a strong, handsome young man who had struggled to find a place he fit into with because of his confusing past and a mature teenager beyond his years due to role in a war that was thrown onto him without choice. He saw a kind and compassionate teen who wanted nothing more than to be normal like anyone else and do everything that other normal people did. He didn't desire fame and attention from his accomplishments he had made in past he couldn't remember well or the recent past he just lived through. Nor did he ask for any kind of compensation for them either other than to just be accepted for who he was.

The blonde respected this now as he realized Harry had far more redeeming qualities than he had first thought. Qualities that he found quite attractive in someone if he were to consider them a potential spouse. The only problem here was it was Harry Potter he was thinking of…

In the room of requirement before, Draco made an interesting discovery due to his knowledge on such old traditions among the pureblood lineages. When he had comforted Harry with his hand onto his shoulder; the soothing magic they felt was the beginning ties of a soul-mate bond between them both.

Draco knew he should be ecstatic and overjoyed at this prospect since a wizard or witch finding their soul-mate today was extremely rare and something that was cherished, but yet he was apprehensive instead. Harry most likely didn't know what those sensations meant and so he had no clue as to the meaning of them. Moreover, Draco wasn't even aware of Harry's preferred orientation in a partner as it was.

Draco grumbled to himself as he sat on his bed in his dorm.

"I know he dated Chang for a period of time, but I think that was because he had a crush on her then and after the tournament it was more of her pushing her presence on him when Cedric died during the tournament's final challenge. She may have saw him as a replacement for him who could comfort her. Never really worked.." He said irritably

"Then there a time I thought he and the female Weasley girl were together and then found out I was wrong. Ginny liked him a lot, but he turned her down because he saw her only as his younger sister too. She had been upset over this for a while, but then came to like in reality since Harry wasn't as dense as Ron was apparently. The 'kiss' I saw was one of him comforting her after she had broken up with her last boyfriend, apparently. It was on top of head, after all." He thought a loud in a soft tone

Draco scowled as he thought about this more. Something inside of him didn't like the mentioning of Harry and the action of him 'kissing' when he was not also going to be there. The Malfoy heir stood and paced the room, "What do I do here? How can I even begin to approach this with Harry and not end up breaking our fragile and tender friendship to tiny fragments again?"

Draco knew he was lucky to have remembered to place a silencing charm on his door as Theodore Nott passed by not long ago. Had he heard any of Draco's ramblings from outside there; he would have been in serious trouble with questions he could not answer right now.

The blonde sighed, "Not only is a relationship like this going to be complicated to keep a secret from a place like Hogwarts as a general rule due to the notorious gossip mill here, but when we finally do reveal it; there will be many who would oppose it with him being their savior and heroic idol while I was the child of a former Death Eater."

"I know Harry likely wouldn't care if he accepted it, but the public certainly would and while Harry doesn't care much for their opinions most of the time; this would be a matter of serious investigation by the ministry if someone were to complain to them. Even though the person would have to have lied to them at point-blank to try and break us apart in time with false allegations to begin with."

"I need to stop being so pessimistic over this issue, though. Perhaps Harry already knows what it will mean and just accept it while I am worrying myself to death over nothing. Maybe we'll find a way to endure this somehow even if I end up explaining it to him anyways." Draco said quietly

Draco then decided to take a relaxing shower to ease his mind of these troubling but joyful thoughts and discoveries over the last day. After his shower, he had dressed for bed and fell into a relaxed sleep knowing all his assignments for the week, like Harry's had been, were finished and he could rest more easily. He fell asleep with a slight smile to his face. The dreams he had for once, were not of the troubles he thought he would have had if he had angry enough to not listen to Harry and followed his father's path.

Instead the dreamland he was in consisted of silky raven hair, glittering emerald eyes, soft and supple tanned skin and bright smile in his direction.


	6. Interlude II: Harry's Truth & Admittance

**_Interlude II_**_: Harry's Truth and Admittance_

The rest of the day went by much faster for Harry than he seemed to think it had. But that may have been due to his mind being overtly preoccupied on classes and other things the rest of the day.

Hermione and Ron had noticed their friend's contemplative mindset, but they stayed silent in hopes he would say something to them about it and that it was nothing to be worried over.

Harry had been wondering if maybe he should share the secrets of his past with Ron and Hermione and the new scenario between him and Draco, as it were. Harry smirked to himself at this though.

Ron and Hermione probably could guess in time that they were soul-mates if not already, but he also surmised that they believed he had no idea of the consequences having a soul-mate could have if not careful. He betted they would at some point try to ambush him into an embarrassing conversation that needn't be made.

Harry sighed though; the truth of the matter was that he had kept secrets from them over the years and now if they were to come out…what would change between them all?

He didn't know and honestly, he didn't want to find out either.

Hermione and Ron were inside the Common Room as Harry came inside and sat with them near the fire. He seemed worried and very silent, which put them at an uneasy stance.

"I have some things I need to tell the two of you, but I don't wish to say them here." Harry said

Ron nodded, "Alright mate, then do you want to go to our dorm then?" He asked low

Harry nodded, "If it is convenient for you both; I don't want Hermione to yell at me for not letting her finish her homework." Harry smirked as he joked

Ron laughed as Hermione grinned and stuck out her tongue at Harry before they followed him upstairs.

After they entered, Harry placed a silencing charm and locking charm on it.

Harry seemed anxious, "You know that I trust you two more than I do anyone else as my best friends here. Draco may be a different story. I trust him as a friend from another house, but this trust is new so there is still much I don't say to him."

His two friends both nodded in understanding.

"Then you should know that if I kept secrets from you; it was either to keep you both safe, I didn't feel it was important for you know at a time, or it was just too personal to me to want to share, right?" He asked

They remained silent and nodded as they wondered where this was headed

Harry sighed, "Then there are some things you need to know now. You know my relatives hate me and that there is some level of abuse towards me there. You never truly wondered why I wanted to be elsewhere because you understood on a general level. Now, it is time to let you know the full reason. I admit this may change your perspective on our resident Headmaster, but you are free to not allow this to change anything between us just as long as Dumbledore stays clear of this information."

His friends appeared apprehensive, but nodded nonetheless.

"The abuse in my relatives home started far earlier than most could believe. Albus left me there the same night my parents died after Hagrid borrowed a flying motorcycle from Sirius. Albus left me on their front porch, with only my blanket from my crib and a warming charm. He also wrote a letter to my relatives explaining what had happened and why I was there to begin with."

"I have told Draco some of this already, but only because he had asked. The first real abuse I remember was when I was perhaps three. I was scared of the dark at that time because I remembered going to sleep and hearing cold laughter and seeing flashing green lights. I would wake and cry looking for comfort, but I never received any at all. My aunt would wake, come down the stairs, and bang on the cupboard door for me to be quiet or there would be trouble before she went back to bed."

"She never held me to calm me down, comfort my distress, or dry my tears. In fact, she never tried to ever be a secondary mother for me at all. The whole family pretty much made me out to be an alien from another planet."

"You know I was always too thin, but not why. My relatives always gave me a list of chores to do that, in the beginning, was much too long for a five year old to think he could complete in time. Depending on what I had completed, that was what determined how much food I was to be given. However, if I failed to finish one of the 'required' chores; I was beaten and went to bed hungry."

"You know that I hid the elder wand from the headmaster though you disagreed with the action. Let's see if you stay of this opinion."

"After I was left there, and had been taken in; punishing me with a beating was normal, but so was allowing Dudley and his friends to beat me to a bloody pulp if they could catch me first. Vernon also delighted in beating me if he was displeased with me and Aunt Petunia had always turned a blind eye to it regardless of what she feared a witch or wizard would do to them if they found out."

"I know why now. The letter the headmaster left with me nearly sixteen years ago. He told them that he needed them to raise me since both my parents had died in a war. He stated they would be handsomely compensated if they did this, but however they chose to do it was not his concern. As long as I remained magically powerful, they had his protection."

"This meant Albus Dumbledore literally gave his consent to abusing me in knowing that it would make me stronger, but that if anyone found out; that he would handle it and they would be let go." Harry said darkly

Hermione sat there shocked on the end of Ron's bed with tears running down her cheeks as Ron seemed too shocked to say anything.

"Last year after I heard the prophecy from Albus first-hand, I was angry beyond belief. He sent to live with those abusive bastards so in turn I would have enough power to kill Riddle and for what? To have Albus turn me over to the ministry as a danger to our community for being so powerful at a young age?"

"I learned this just prior to leaving last year by accident. He intends to have me imprisoned after I dispose of Riddle because I am more magically powerful than he is and because he fears the power behind the Peverell lineage my family originated from."

"Now do you see why I have done some of things I have. I did not do them to be obstinate or to be stubborn. I did them out of self-preservation." Harry said softly

Hermione got up and flung herself at Harry in a hug, "Oh Harry? I wish you had told us sooner. Things would have been so much easier to understand then about why you did things certain ways."

"I know Hermione, and I am sorry; it's just I was a touch paranoid I suppose and I didn't want more people to know than was currently necessary."

"However, there is one more vital thing I have to say."

Hermione nodded as she then sat back down with Ron.

"You know that most wizards and witches go through their inheritances at seventeen, correct." He asked

The nodded, but now Hermione was suspicious of where this was head.

Harry sighed, "Last summer after I was sent to my relatives; they were worse than normal. Vernon had lost his job due to an outburst at the workplace and resulted in his firing. Naturally, they blamed me for it even though I was not there. He started drinking a lot and he is not a nice drunk."

"One night he beat me so bad that I likely would have bled to death if Petunia had not stopped him and semi-healed me the muggle way. However, the wounds were bad and technically I should have lost my magic."

They paled at that.

"I did not though because my body recognized the danger to my magic and I remember thinking I was likely going to die before I defeated Tom and how much the world would be suffering."

"Then I remember I started glowing white and watching my wounds heal themselves as I felt internal changes occurring. That white light had purposely instigated my inheritance that night."

"You must have noticed the changes to a degree. I am about three heads taller than normal and I don't look so underweight now. Plus, my eyesight was corrected." He asked them

"We had wondered about that, Harry." Ron said, "But, we didn't feel as if it polite to just outright ask you about it all."

"I see. Well besides the physical changes there were other parts to this that may not have been noticed by either of you. One them though is due to glamours I wear all day every day." He said

"Anyway, the first non-noticed change would be my intellectual standards. Sure I could do my homework before you two for the week and keep my grades average, but if I truly desired to; I would give Hermione a run for top of class now with what I truly know from my inheritance." He smirked

Hermione scowled, "How do figure that?" She asked whilst Ron's eyes widened and then he shook his head and stayed silent.

Harry smirked and lowered the glamour over his appearance, "This is how, Hermione."

Hermione's eyes widened too now.

"I am a one of the last of my kind and the last of my immediate blood. I am the last lineage in the wizarding community within Britain's pureblood circles to have my creature blood in it. I am the last heir with the blood connection directly to the direct line of the elven kingdom here who are the children of Karilith, or the seat of power to the dark elves there. My knowledge since my inheritance has three times grown as has my power. I would be willing to bet that id I demanded a graduation test and it was given to me; I would pass undeniably." Harry smirked

Hermione scowled, "I think that I believe you now, but why did you hide this from us? Or for that matter, why did you hide it at all?"

"I did not wish the headmaster to be suspicious that so much had changed in three months of time and try to do something to try and control me by force. I did not want to cause him to need to feel he was threatened more than he already does considering I have less than two years left here now."

"I see."

"Now, there is one last thing you two need to hear and hopefully you both won't go a-wall on me." Harry said as he replaced the glamour over his appearance and then turned to them.

"First, Draco has no idea of my elven inheritance and I ask both you not to tell him. I need to do that when I feel the timing is right and now would not be a good idea."

They nodded in slight understanding

"Secondly, I am aware you two have taken to calling our planning sessions to 'story dates,'" He smirked whilst they turned red, "Which is fine as long as no one else knows whom you are speaking of currently."

"Lastly, today I was rather sentimental as I went to our normal session. It was Halloween today and as such; you know this is a typically hard day on me. Draco had wanted to know of the times before I came to Hogwarts, which I granted to him in some ways."

"However, I expected him to walk-out on me after I had revealed that I was not as strong as most believe I was. Surprisingly, he did not and actually he comforted me about it. Which them led to the part I hope you won't go crazy at me for."

Harry sighed and stood again as he walked to the window, "I discovered that Draco and I are soul-mates today. I believe we never recognized it before due to the animosity between us, but now that it not there; there was no stopping it from forming. I am sure Draco understands the meaning due to his upbringing and I do understand now due to my early inheritance."

Ron was about to interrupt here when Harry gazed at him and silenced him.

"Which means that if you two had perhaps maybe already come to this conclusion and were about to give a conversation about the consequences of what could happen if Draco and I decided rashly to 'jump into bed together' than spare yourselves the embarrassment because I don't need it." Harry said

Harry smirked at them both as they were rather red in the face before Hermione quietly left for bed and Ron went to change in pajamas as he did as well.

"Harry, just so you know…I think maybe this was meant to happen and I approve of the situation so long as Draco remains true to this as much as you are. I want to thank you for revealing your inheritance to us though, as Hermione was going to try and have me talk you about things I'd rather not." Ron said in mumbling rush

Harry smirked, "I know she did to some level, but I didn't know it was tonight; I just happened to take a lucky guess."

Harry and Ron went to bed then, as Harry forgot that he had silenced and locked their dorm that evening. Which this had left the other three boys in their dorm to sleep outside in the Gryffindor common area that night and enough time for a new rumor in Hogwarts gossip mill to be started…


	7. Chapter V: Rumors, rumors, and more

_**Chapter V**__: Rumors, rumors, and more oh my!_

Harry and Ron woke feeling oddly refreshed more than normal and perhaps wondered why until Harry noticed something odd about the room. Normally, Harry was the first to wake and dress while the other four boys stayed asleep. Today, however, Ron had not only woken alongside him in the dorm, but Harry noticed three of the five were also missing from the room.

Harry found it strange as did Ron until they were about to leave the room and Harry halted his friend.

"Harry?" Ron asked in confusion

Harry smirked, "I think I know why we were alone this morning Ron." He said

Ron waited for an answer.

"During our discussion last night, I locked and silenced the dorm door to prevent unwanted eavesdroppers on us. But, the emotional backlash must have exhausted me since I forgot to undo the charms yesterday." He said with a smirk

"I think we should prepare ourselves for a wide range of unappealing rumors in the rumor mill today." Harry said with a smirk

Ron grimaced and then smirked, "Do you want to pull Hermione into this joke too since she was here for some time too?"

Harry contemplated this before he grinned, "Why not? After all, Hermione can be very much a minx when she wants to be." He smirked at Ron

Ron growled at Harry, "That's my girlfriend you speak of!"

Harry laughed loudly, "I know!"

He said this as he ran out the door and Ron running after him with laughter between them both until they reached the common area.

When they had reached the common room, silence was prevalent as Hermione sat on their normal sofa with a smirk towards them both. She must have been awake for some time and had heard at least a few of the new rumors about.

"Harry, you forgot to undo the charms last night." She said quietly to her friend

Harry smirked, "I know, and I did not figure it out until we were about to find you for breakfast. Ron and I wondered if you'd like to help us with a massive prank on the school masses that will have chaotic effect." He smirked at her

Hermione seemed to pretend and ponder, "Oh I don't know, it seems all very wrong and sordid to me." She smirked, "I'm in."

Ron and Harry smirked as they both stood and held out their hands for her to take in front of the whole common area, which started even more rumors a plenty. They all left for the great hall together with smiles and secret smirks as the dorm whispered about what the heck was going on in there between the three friends they thought they knew for so long now these days.

* * *

Breakfast was fairly normal, unless you counted the innumerable stares from the other students for the new rumors flying around as well as the fact Harry had received an inordinate amount of mail that morning too than was perceived as normal for one single student.

Most of the mail was junk and Harry burned those letters on sight, however, there were a few curious pieces he held for later among the new normal ones from the Ministry Wizengamot meetings, Hogwarts School Board of Govenor's assembly and the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. Sometimes being a new lord of the world you belonged to sucked; quite literally at times too. Harry was surprised though that he had yet to receive a howler from Mrs. Weasley about voiding the illegal arranged marriage contract that was between him and Ginny set-up between her and Dumbledore when he was about three years of age.

Not that either of them cared much that it had been voided. It had been broken about a few months ago when Harry visited Gringotts secretly. Ginny and he both acknowledged they would eventually shred each other a part if they were put together as a married couple and decided their roles to each other were that of best friends and brother and sister. Nothing more than this and especially not meant to be boyfriend and girlfriend.

Harry had, however, noticed that Draco was seemingly irritated more than normal today and wondered perhaps if it was well-hidden, but actual jealousy due to the rumor mill and not knowing if it was true or not; or if maybe it was something more average for the blonde of late, such as Pansy had bothering the crap out of him last night by asking constantly why she was not allowed to visit him for Christmas break at the Manor.

Harry had decided reluctantly to go over there before the soul-mate discovery between them, and now he just had more of a reason to be there. His safety, however, was imperative so no one other than he was invited there this year until they knew for sure whom their true friends and allies were among them all.

Harry hid a smirk to himself though; these new rumors could be useful in some ways with the newfound knowledge of his and Draco's true relationship to each other. Harry leaned over to whisper something in Ron's ear and the redhead then looked at him as if he had went mental before he smirked to his friend again and shrugged his shoulders before he leaned towards his girlfriend and repeated the words to Hermione.

The trio's female counterpart just smirked at Harry and Ron as if she knew this was coming and then masked her face as she prepared to review for Ancient Runes that morning whilst the boys pigged out on breakfast. Ron more-so than Harry where food and manners were concerned. She dearly liked Ron most of the time, but she did wish that he could perhaps get better table manners at times. She then reasoned to herself mentally that Ron would not be Ron Weasley if he was as neat of an eater as she was or even as Harry was at times.

Draco meanwhile, had noticed the odd conversations floating around today, and he tried very hard not to be jealous of them as he concentrated on his oatmeal. The fact was that he was jealous even if he knew the rumor mill was wrong on most accounts for whatever it was worth to listen to it at all.

The blonde didn't like the thought of Harry with another person other than himself and certainly not two other people at once. He didn't like the way the trio seemed to flaunt the rumor mill this morning just to make fun of whatever someone had started for whatever reasoning they had to do so. He especially did not like the seemingly odd closeness of the other two in the group to his soul-mate today because of their forced amusement and the odd whispering they did today made him feel on the edge. It made his skin crawl and want to march over there in front of the whole school and let them know Harry was his and his alone.

The only problem here was that he could not expose their bond to the school yet. It was still too early and too dangerous for either of them to do so. So, here Draco was at his house table for breakfast listening to Pansy whine about how bored she'll be over the holidays if she didn't get to visit and he was becoming increasingly more irritated and jealous as the meal progressed as he tried not to lash out and yell at Pansy to shut the hell up already.

Pansy honestly was dense at times, as most of his house-mate had already noticed his irritation and strayed clear of his temper and remained silent. Pansy on the other hand, kept going and he supposed it was partially because she knew that she could get away with it too. She was a very good friend most times, but right now; she was an utter annoyance who he wanted to smack to make them be quiet but refrained to not cause a scene.

Hopefully, Harry would explain what this was about during their 'story session' and to clear the doubt away so he could enjoy the amusement behind the joke too if it was truly a joke.

'Stop it, Draco' He scowled to himself, 'Do not even think about going there'

The blonde then tried to eat more of his meal as the stares and whispers around the school became worse before morning lessons started.

* * *

Morning classes seemed to go by uneventfully for Draco and as he headed to the room of requirement to meet Harry today, he heard uproariously laughter and his curiosity had been put into overdrive.

Harry and his two companions must have been heading this way as well, but something seemed off right now.

Ron smirked, "Did you see the look on that poor girl's face Harry? I think she'd have broken down when you told her no any politer than you had."

Harry scowled at his friend with a dirty look, "Shut up Ron, just because you have a girlfriend and the rest of the bloody school only wants me for my fame and money is no reason to joke over their emotional state no matter how hilarious we all seem to find it when I happen to say no to them all."

"Well, at least the girl wasn't like Cho the second time you turned her down. She likely would have tried to jump you from behind if she were that interested."

"I second that statement." Hermione agreed conversationally with amusement and a smirk to them both

Harry shivered in remembrance of that event before he scowled again, "Don't pick on the mentally insane because it's not polite, unless you want to pick fun and amusement on the dark lord who wants my head on silver platter. Then I do not care what you say as long as it doesn't involve me, him, and a relationship other than that of killing each other." Harry shivered in disgust at the thought before he collected himself

Draco then cleared his throat to garner their attention to him.

Harry looked up and smiled, "Am I glad to see at least someone with a level of normality that remains here in this school. Let's get inside and I'll try to explain this morning as best I can."

Draco nodded quietly.

* * *

After they had entered their safe haven, Harry sighed and then smirked.

"Let me start off by saying that whatever the rumor mill says about these new and weird threesome happenings between myself, Ron, and Hermione are; they are not true and all of us here in the room should know that by now." Harry said

"Last night I needed to talk to Hermione and Ron privately about some…sensitive issues to me and we were in the dorm at the time. I locked and silenced our dormitory door to prevent eavesdroppers on us, but at the end of the discussion; I was and had been highly emotional and was exhausted. I forgot to undo the charms on the dorm door, thus starting the rumors when Hermione may have passed by a half-asleep member of our house."

"It was not intentionally done, but I cannot say that the amusement from it hasn't made me laugh at least twice now."

Harry smirked at the blonde who was internally relieved by the news of how this all began and then smirked as well.

"Hermione and Ron thought it would be fun to use this as a massive prank on the school as another whole and maybe as…something else I'll get to later." He said quickly

Hermione and Ron knew to leave now and did so promptly after Hermione gave Harry a friendly hug and reassuring gaze before they left. Draco seemed content at least that the rumors were false and so he no longer felt threatened by his friends towards his mate.

Harry seemed to be contemplating something before he sighed and ran a distressed hand through his hair. This motion caused it to become disheveled in a way Draco seemed to like.

"Draco, I need to talk to you about some things. I didn't tell you them earlier because I wasn't sure this friendship between us would last, but it seems it has so I think now would be a good time to tell you." Harry said slowly as he summoned tea wandlessly without noticing

Draco stared at that momentarily before he decided to remain quiet and nodded his head in acknowledgement to the statement.

"You have noticed, I'm sure, that my magical powers when shown to the right people at a given time; they are far more trained and honed than to the average standard. Did wonder why at all?" Harry asked

Draco seemed nervous, "I did notice somewhat and more so after we started meeting together, but I did not think it was polite to ask. If you wanted me to know why then you would have told me when you believed it was the right time." He said slowly

Harry nodded and stood with his back to Draco now, "I am fragile in some ways Draco due to my past as you now are aware. However, I am also more than I appear to be at current." He said slowly to his friend and soul-mate

Draco was confused, "How so?"

"I may be the last of the Potter lineage and its only living heir, but I am also the last living descendant of Ignotus Pervell as you'll recall?" Harry asked him

Draco nodded unsurely; trying to see where this was even headed.

"I am Lord Peverell now as its last living descendant and this infuriates the Dark Lord because his branch of the Peverell lineage was more conclusive to lead many to believe he would have been lord of the house. However, when Riddle created his first horcrux to ensure his mortality on earth; he gave up the right to claim its title and since Cadmus had no heirs due to never having married…the title fell to Ignotus's heirs, or in other words, me." Harry said

"My powers maturated faster last summer than any other I have known. Maybe it was prophesized or maybe it wasn't; I am unsure. This is what I do know about the circumstances leading to the power maturation."

Harry sighed as he gazed at the fire and bowed his head in remorse somewhat and then pulled his head up and made himself not feel sorry for those despicable relatives of his.

"Last summer was the worst I had seen ever at Privet Drive to date on my many returns there. My uncle and his family as you know; they hate me and our world more than anything else I know of. Why, I could only make educated guesses at but it is whatever it is now."

"My uncle had lost his job prior to my returning there for the holidays by having a rather nasty disagreement with his boss and was then promptly fired when he became violently out of line. I know that it was not my fault he lost the job as I was not there, and deep down, I know they do too; but, like anyone else who is normal…they would rather place blame on someone else than to accept their own responsibility for failure."

"My aunt decided she no longer could live with a man who had no desire to find a new job to support his family with and so she divorced him. Technically, I should have gone with her and my cousin, but being the spiteful bitch my aunt is; she gave over my custody to her ex-spouse." Harry said darkly

Draco remained quiet and listened with full attention as this tale seemed to only get worse.

"It was about the third week of vacation when my uncle started drowning himself in alcohol again and he is not a nice drunk to put nicely. On contrary, he is an abusive and violent drunk and since his wife and son were gone from his life, he had no job now and his bills were piling up and he could not pay them; he started drinking and beating on me again more than he had used to."

"The last time he beat me up while full of induced rage, I was almost sure I was going to die that night. I had flesh wounds that were gushing blood rapidly and I had been being starved so my body was not as healthy then it was at the end of the term."

Draco's temper was starting to rise at this. How dare that bastard treat Harry in such a way as this.

"I remember thinking on my death, and finding vague if morbid amusement that the headmaster's plans would be ruined if I died there and then the community would be rioting over it as they believed he could keep me safe."

"Then I thought about the prophecy and my forsworn duty of killing the bastard who took everything from me sixteen years ago. I imagined what the world would be like under his rule and it made me hurt worse to know my friends would likely suffer torture after capture than reveal any secrets even if I was gone."

"It made me so angry." Harry said in anxiety, "That was when I noticed a bright white light coming from my body for some reason I could not understand. This light had done more than heal me of the wounds that night. It aided my unasked call for help Draco."

"It healed me of the wounds inflicted upon me, and it started my inheritance a year earlier than planned. The inheritance boosted my magical powers, deepened my reserves, and maturated out my talents so they all would be usable before the term started."

"This is the part I neglected to tell Ron and Hermione though, as I don't think Hermione couldn't figure it out herself in time and she'll tell Ron when appropriate." Harry said as Draco looked up concerned.

"After my power was maturated and honed, the white light turned to a pale golden tone and I remember watching my spirit be transported to another dream realm much like the visions I have only not painfully."

"In this realm, it was where I met the first lord Peverell and Ignotus, my ancestor."

Draco gasped in shock to this.

"They told me of my heritage and the plans on both sides of the war to destroy me and my allies when the timing was right depending on the side the prevailed first. The first lord Peverell gave his powers magically to me followed by Ignotus."

"It did not stop there though. All my ancestors, one by one, came to me that night and they all blessed me with the knowledge of their gifts and talents and how to use them after obtaining the knowledge of them in more depth here in the living realm."

"The founders of Hogwarts all visited me that night, including Salazar. He said that his descendant may be powerful, but his grasp at life is so convoluted that he is blind to his own power. His anger and his hatred at others for the things they had no control over made him insane and he could not stand by and watch Tom destroy the school he had personally helped to build and later on the world he cherished above all else."

"Among others who came to me that night was Merlin himself who is connected directly to Godric Gryffindor and Ignotus as well as Morgan Le Fay through Salazar's lineage."

"I have great power, and I have more than one prophecy to fulfill now rather than just to kill Riddle to sustain peace here." Harry said, "But the last part is probably the most intriguing of all." Harry said to him as Draco seemed contemplative and curious as he looked to his friend in thought.

Harry stood and sighed, "I ask that you please try not to faint at what happens next?"

Draco just nodded his head to this as he had no idea now at what to do.

Harry then said some strange words that Draco did not recognize and the blonde watched in awe as a glamour fell away from his mate to reveal a new secret he had kept.

"As you can see Draco, I am also no longer fully human either. My inheritance did not cause this per se, but it did instigate it. It turned out that my mother was actually pureblood and of dark elven royalty. She was taken from her home at a young age and had not known of her true identity. I only found out because of a secret trip to Gringotts I made before I was escorted to the Order headquarters for the rest of the summer. There were once two great dark elven tribes in Great Britain. The one my mother was from was Karilith; the larger of the two and the other was known as Furemnhiere."

"I hide my true appearance, power, and abilities mainly because I do not trust the headmaster and I certainly do not want him to be suspicious of me now as well as the fact the dark lord would see my head on a silver platter more vigorously if he knew of these things." Harry finished quietly

"I see. Well that was a lot to take in but it was a welcome surprise for me compared to yesterday's story session." Draco smiled lightly, "I also believe I have come up with a better Conversion plan now that you have revealed something to me."

Harry raised a brow, "Let's hear it then."

"Harry, I understand your inheritance has given you great knowledge and power but even this cannot dictate how a family chooses it familial ties to form alliances in desperate times of war or famine." Draco said

Harry nodded silently as he listened; he knew this already but wanted to see this idea to the end.

"You are Lord Peverell now, and the lord of the only house to ever have every other pureblood nobility in his back pocket if needed. I theorize that if you still ensure your safety with those wards you want but instead ones of full power to guarantee safety; this would be wise."

"However, if you were to come down to our dorm under the cloak you have in your elven appearance and I introduced you as Lord Peverell; the others likely would listen to anything you said without reservation despite their curiosity to know how I know you."

"The older and more traditional families that remain revere the Peverell blood line and just to know someone from it is considered an honor. You could tell them that they have seen you before elsewhere. I mean you would have to leave your scar without glamour and to tell them to look closer at your appearance there."

"Soon enough, they would realize you were also Harry Potter."

"It would be here after the shock and outcry has calmed that we tell them that you and I have been meeting in secret for let's say a month, and this is for reason that will be explained if they wanted the truth of how the dark lord has manipulated the old blood lines."

"After this we can begin to tell them your true story, and at the end of it if they have prevalent questions for us; we should answer them. Then we move on to where I will say something about how I brought you there for more than this and such."

"This will lead you to explaining the truth of your stay in the hospital wing and the visions that kept you there. It will tell of how the dark lord used my father and covered up his hand murdering him by doubling his body for the aurors and how you wanted me to know the truth before I was led to believe whatever he wanted me to."

"We could even allow you to show them what a 'true death eater' does on a raid or a mission if there is any more doubts in the group by then. However, this could be dissolved by showing them your Peverell lineage ring and all the others molded into it." Draco said softly

Harry listened patiently to this idea as his brain automatically processed it and filed it away in organized areas for review as he smiled at Draco brightly now.

"I think this idea will work much better than the previous one, Draco. Plus, it doesn't have any foreseeable loopholes other than how I'm not going to alert Professor Snape's or the headmaster's curiosity if I do the full protection ward on your common room? " Harry said

"I suppose perhaps I could ask the castle's sentient spirit to protect the wards presence from those who do not need to know of them…" Harry said more to himself than to Draco as the blonde seemed amazed at this.

"Harry, you can sense the castle's spirit and communicate with it?" he asked

Harry nodded in agreement to this with a sheepish look now, "Yes, I can Draco."

Draco grinned, "That is amazing. I heard stories of people who could do this because the castle took a liking to them over their time here, but I did not know that you were one of them." He said

Harry grinned, "Yeah well, I can do it and I can say it is fun at times. Considering the amount of pranks I got away with because of the gift."

Draco smiled before he frowned, "Oh yeah, there is something I wanted to ask you about but I am just unsure how to go about it."

Harry looked at the blonde with concern now, "It's nothing serious right?"

Draco bit his lip, "Well, that depends on perspective."

Harry nodded and stayed quiet.

Draco sighed, "I guess perhaps the best way is to just say then. Harry, have you noticed the new level of content between us when we are near the other at all? Or perhaps a better way of putting it is to say have you noticed the new and odd feelings and sensations between us when close together."

Harry smiled, "I wondered if you'd ask about it or not. I did not say anything because I wanted to see if you'd say anything after all of my secrets got spilled to you. Draco, yes I am aware of them. I know we are considered soul-mates, and I do not have any objections if you don't either and we take this slowly so the bond adjusts well."

"The other thing is, we cannot be open about the bond like most couples would be of their own. It is far too dangerous right now for both of us and I have war to finish and a political movement to start after it." Harry said softly

Draco sat beside Harry now, "I understand this, and I know we can be open when the timing is right. I can wait that long."

"Oh yeah." Harry smirked, "I almost had forgotten. The rumor mill started this morning gave me a mean idea for a prank on the school. I only want to get your blessing first however, since you are my soul-mate and would need to be aware of it first too."

Draco looked suspiciously at Harry now.

"Hermione, Ron, I thought to use this new rumor about us having a secret threesome orgy as a cover-up for when Ron and Hermione meet up together and I could find you to do the same. Since all three of us would therefore be missing, and all three of us would likely come back more disheveled than before…there would no reason that the rest of the school shouldn't believe the rumor even if the truth of it is slightly more complicated and involved." Harry smirked at the blonde with amusement and laughter hidden behind his eyes.

Draco smirked too now, "Something tells me I like this new side of the golden trio I thought I knew for the last five years."

Harry smirked, "You wish. There are more oddities about our little group than one probably would ever wish to know and I do mean that literally."

Draco's eyes gleamed, "Care to share some then?"

Harry scoffed, "I do not kiss and tell on my friends, but perhaps in time I might be persuaded to do some of this with something more pleasurable." He leered at Draco with a salacious tone.

Draco shivered slightly as he shrugged his shoulders, "Fine, fair enough then."

The two then quickly finished the last of their lunch and morning class homework before carefully separating and going different ways for their afternoon lessons while hoping not to be tardy today either. Draco also had his mind on other things as he left other than lessons.

They involved Christmas holidays, Malfoy Manor, Harry at his home, his presence, and his bed.


	8. Chapter VI: A Secret Pranked is Kept

**A/N: **Okay, so I know that I said this story and Dark Phoenix Arisen were not and would not be companion pieces to each other. However, I have seen how very similar and yet different they are, and thought it might be fun to use them that way. So from now on they are to companion pieces. But, keep in mind I am still very ill despite my recent writing activity. I am doing somewhat better, but I am very ill and still bedridden for the most part. There may be periods of time where more chapters are added and then periods where nothing happens at all. I will finish theses two stories though, no matter how long it takes me to do so.

Also, Dark Phoenix Arisen was started first before Soul-Mates was and now it would appear this story was despite the truth of it. Dark Phoenix Arisen has come to a major roadblock and slowly I am working on it, but just know that Soul-mates might very well become much farther as I work through the block since it has created many new problems the more get through one area of the block.

_**Chapter VI**__**:**__ A Secret Pranked is a Secret Kept I_

After Halloween, everything between Harry and Draco fell into a more normal routine as they fine-tuned their 'new Slytherin Conversion' plan. The school remained utterly clueless as to Harry and Draco's true relationship for the majority of the student and teacher body due to the fiery sparks having gone off about the rumored threesome between the golden trio that was started on accident when Harry forgot to remove his charms a couple weeks ago.

The Professors for the most part had ignored the rumors about it since it was none of their business if it was true or not, and some of the teachers there Harry would have said were now more uncomfortable around the three of them due to their new patterns of nervousness because of the rumors. Professor Snape and Headmaster Dumbledore being the only two people in the school that were exempted from both categories that were described above here, of course.

Intriguingly, Harry had albeit, noticed that Professor Snape seemed more curious of the rumor than anything else and had taken a peculiarly odd habit of watching Harry and his friends more than normal. It was almost as if he was stalking them for answers. It irritated them to no end at times, and Harry had already once entertained the idea of doing a fake make-out sandwich between him and his friends whilst Snape caught them in the middle of it despite the trouble they'd be in for it. He thought it'd be humorous to see though even if this idea was more involved for revenge due to his irritation not minding the fact that Snape deserved it five times over by now.

Whereas the Headmaster had kept his distance from Harry again; the same as he had done in his fifth year, before the fiasco in the Department of Mysteries within the Ministry of Magic had occurred. This was perfectly fine with him as long as he maintained a careful guard of his surroundings and to not let the wily old man catch him unaware of whatever he was planning up his sleeves for him if anything.

The Christmas holidays were right around the corner and Draco was ecstatic to have Harry visiting the Manor for them. he talked constantly to Harry about how much his mother was thrilled to finally be able to meet him without war sides getting in the way. He knew the blonde was utterly brainless at times when it involved presents and holidays; yet the Elven lord found the blonde who was his mate's antics very humorous and at times, utterly hilarious. Between the intense workload from their teachers before the break and watching Draco run around in the room of requirement like a headless chicken when he realized he had 'forgotten to plan this or that' was quite amusing to say the least.

Harry had already managed to secure the privacy wards he would need for their plan to work and he found that Hogwarts's sentient spirit had been quite accommodating for this plan since she had felt it was time that the rest of the houses in her school saw Slytherin in a new light than the one they knew of currently.

* * *

It was now about two weeks until the holidays and the student body, himself and Draco included, had been fastidiously studying for the mid-term tests next week before they were to go back home for the break. Surprisingly, Draco and Harry's abilities complimented each other more than they had been aware of.

Where Harry's abilities lacked in some levels, Draco's were stronger in those areas to a degree and he was able to assist Harry with perfecting them. The same could be said in reverse too. Draco helped Harry understand Potions better than he had before, even with his new and better senses that had allowed him to avoid careless mistakes. Whilst Harry helped Draco more than anything with Transfiguration. Just because Harry had been given all these new gifts and all this knowledge; it did not mean he automatically could use them. He had to train them to make them work, and studying was one of the first key elements of knowing how to do this, much to his own chagrin.

It was a lightly raining day that found Harry and Draco in the 'story room' on a Saturday morning and with their noses piled into their transfiguration texts of all things. Draco groaned as his head began to hurt and Harry just smirked to his mate in a knowing kind-of way.

He knew Draco hated transfiguration.

"Draco, I was thinking about something yesterday and I would like your opinion." Harry asked him

The blonde merely gazed up at Harry and nodded before returning his eyes to his book.

"Do you think that if Severus was told the truth about me that he would; in turn at least, be able to not see me as my father and come to a truce?" Harry asked of him

Draco set his quill down softly, "Harry, I can only make an educated guess here since I still don't understand why Severus seems to loathe you as he does, but from what I know of his character then yes...I think he may be amenable to change his views and come to a truce if this is what you want."

Harry seemed to nod, "Do you think we should let him in on this plan of ours then? Or perhaps a better way of stating this is…do you think we should have him there when we begin it and let him see the truth with the rest of the group?"

Draco sighed, "I don't know, honestly. It's risky to do this with him involved either way."

Harry remained silent here; knowing the truth in that statement better than most would realize.

"I think we need to execute the plan after mid-terms on Saturday before we leave Sunday morning for break. I know this is earlier than we originally planned it, but something tells me we need to as an instinctual feeling." Harry said

"I just hope I'm wrong on this."

Draco stared at his mate, "Has your scar burned lately?" He asked

Harry sighed, "Yes, and quite frequently too. It has me concerned that Tom is on the move so quickly again. I've been rather fortunate that no visions have occurred with this burning he has caused, but I won't count on it lasting much longer if he is moving as fast as I predict he is."

Draco seemed concerned, "Do you know anything he could be up to right now that could stimulate the increased frequency of the pain?"

Harry thought a moment, "I know he sent messengers to send as envoys to several clans of werewolves and vampires. Perhaps their acceptance of his terms is the cause of this and he is planning a raid of some kind."

Draco paled, "That's not good."

Harry sighed and grimaced, "No, it's not good at all for any of us."

* * *

The week of preparatory study went by in a flash and soon the school was inundated with the heaviness of mid-term exams. Fifth years and seventh years were particularly being watched due the OWL and NEWT tests to come at the end of the year.

Draco and Harry barely had any time for the other during the day and at the end of the exam day; they were literally too drained to do much other than sleep. Hermione and Ron were much the same so there was no suspicions yet.

By Friday, the trio and Draco met in the room of requirement to iron out last minute details of the latest part of their 'plan'. Coincidentally, this new part had to be added due to Ron's loud mouth accidentally almost blowing their cover and Seamus overhearing him.

"Okay, so at nine o' clock tomorrow night, we are leaving Gryffindor common room down to the fourth floor where…" Harry glared at Ron for the millionth time

"Where you will undo your glamour charm for your elven appearance underneath the cloak to resume your Lord Peverell persona and then create a second body double for yourself in a normal human Harry form for Seamus to find later on." Hermione said with pink-tinged cheeks

Harry nodded and then glared at Ron to continue.

Ron sighed, "Which is then after the clone is done, the real you will leave under the cloak to meet Draco near the Slytherin dorms as Seamus tries to find Hermione and I with the clone and catch 'us' making out to prove the rumors were true after all despite they are not really true at all." Ron shivered in dismay

"Right. Ron, as much as you don't like this idea; it is your fault Seamus even heard of the plan to begin with no matter how mixed up it was when he entered the common room yesterday and just happened to overhear of it. So, now you and Hermione with my clone are going to have to fix it whether or not you like the idea." Harry glared at him

Ron whined in a pleading way, "Harry, I said I'm sorry already for the thousandth time so can't we just skip this?"

Harry glared at his friend as Draco tried desperately not to break out laughing from behind him.

"Only to allow Seamus to suspect something is up if we avoid fixing the problem in the first place and create more problems for our group later on when the headmaster or Professor Snape become more suspicious of me than they already likely are? I'm not taking any more chances than are necessary here Ronald Weasley and even still; there are many things that could go wrong yet if the wrong people have the wrong information, Ron." Harry said furiously

Ron bowed his head in shame, "I'm sorry Harry…I had forgotten exactly how dangerous this was for you and Draco due to the prank we've been pulling all year so far. In fact, it almost seemed it was just a prank until now. I'll try harder not to let this happen again." He said quietly

Harry sighed, "See that you don't Ron, or next time my head might be on Voldemort's dinner table on a silver platter."

Ron paled at this statement very quickly as Hermione grimaced to the image Harry created for her, and Draco had paled much like Ron did to the idea of his soul-mate being beheaded and his head being presented in such a way to the dark lord.

* * *

On Saturday morning, Harry and Draco woke early and met in the room of requirement for some time together before the plan was to be executed that night. Harry had been wanting and longing for the feel of his soul-mate, though he had not said anything to Draco about it in order to keep stress down during exams. It likely would not have helped their study habits at all.

Draco arrived shortly after Harry and came into the room with a scowl on his face, which Harry found odd since it was so early.

"What's up?" Harry asked nonchalantly as possible

Draco scowled more, "Pansy's getting desperate to know where I keep disappearing off to at random times each week and so she tried to ambush me this morning to get her answers. Thankfully, I had anticipated this and was able to avoid giving her any real answers directly. Next time however, I may not be quite so fortunate if she is truly determined."

"I see." Harry said indifferently whilst trying to push down a stub of irrational jealousy towards Draco's friend.

Draco came and sat by Harry and they relished in the quiet of the room with the warm fire beside them. Comforting them with its presence and warming them with its soft heat. Hogwarts's sentient spirit soothing Harry's nervousness with her gentle voice whispering amid the invisible breeze of the castle and her protective nature calming his nerves over tonight's plan.

"Draco…" Harry asked suddenly

The blonde only hummed in acknowledgement due to his enjoyment of his mate beside him and the quiet of the room.

"I am starting to think we are both odd." Harry smirked to himself knowing how Draco would likely respond to that

The blonde cracked an eye open as he narrowed it in suspicion towards Harry.

"How are we the odd ones here in this blasted school? Or, better yet, why are we odd at all compared to the world we live in for that matter?" He asked him

"We are odd because we have both known for nearly a month that we were soul-mates, and yet we continuously avoid talking of things that are awkward to our relationship due to the fragile newness of it regardless to how many times we've met here or had busy schedules?"

Draco sat up and sighed, "Such as?"

"Such as to the fact that we both know I am Lord Peverell now and a forefront figure to the war ahead of us. I am an Elven lord who was come to seek justice for its people unknowingly. I am a dominant person by nature or an alpha if you prefer. You, however, are much the same. You let no one tell you what to do any more and you certainly haven't ever done so whilst here."

"Your late father seemed to be the only one who could tell you to do anything prior to now, but with him gone; you have changed into a more independent person and in my personal opinion, a better person all together. It is a welcome change, however again, whenever I seem to be near you…then you seem almost as if you'd prefer to step back from the dominant role when I'm around you and to let me have such a role. I find myself curious about it more than anything?" Harry said

Draco sighed and answered quietly, "That's because I do step down when you are here."

Harry stared to this a bit, "Why, not that I am complaining; but, I do find it odd that you would do so anyhow?"

"Because despite the fact that I know that I can act as a dominant role if I desire to, I feel more at ease knowing that you are a true dominant and can protect me if I should need it at a given time for being my mate. You probably smelt the change in my aura at the beginning of the year?" Draco asked

Harry nodded, "Yes, but I don—"

Draco shushed him, "The change in the scent is due to my Veela heritage on my mother's side. Predominantly, it is women in the Black lineage who became veela. Andromeda and Bellatrix being exceptions I suppose, but I guess that having no female heirs made the blood thinner and the creature line knew that it was dying out and so it chose me instead top pass the genetics to. I am by nature a submissive veela though I can act as a dominant if I desired to and I will voice my opinion if I want it heard as you know well by now."

"If you weren't around me so much all the time, I would be acting as a dominant more often on my own behalf as a mechanism to better protect myself from those I considered a weak dominant and ones that had showed interest in me as a mate to begin with. I have my veela powers in control from the summer training my mother did with me, but my appearance only changed very slightly so there was not much of an outward sign to the change at all."

"We are are mates as two creatures to the other, but also being true soul-mates as well as creature mates adds a layer of depth that is harder to define. I had thought you knew of my being a veela and so I did not say anything until now. I apologize that you thought otherwise." Draco said quietly

Harry nodded, "It's not anything to apologize over, Draco. We are new to this and we learn as we go along each day. Sometimes there will be moments that surprise us and others that won't."

He then fell quiet as he continued to think on this matter more whilst Draco gazed up at him with concerned eyes. The silver irises held so much emotion there that only he would likely ever see.

Harry then lowered his head and caught Draco off-guard by catching his lips in a tender and semi-chaste kiss. The veela in Draco was surprised but happy nonetheless by this action. His internal veela was practically purring in happiness.

The kiss lasted for several minutes before Harry broke it and awkward silence filled the room.

"I hope we can do more of that here alone after the break more often when all this planning and converting is done with?" Draco smirked

Harry smiled, "I'm sure we could as long Hermione and Ron don't blow our cover first."

Draco growled at that and Harry smacked his head.

"I was joking Draco; besides Ron may be thick at times, but he has learned that I truly am in danger from what he did so he won't repeat it. At least not on purpose, though a random scenario could occur that might endanger us."

"Mentioning my head on the dark lord's dinner table on top of a silver plate has had its desired effects on Ron for now. Let's hope it stays that way."

"So tell me Draco, what did you envision us doing for a whole week at your house with only us and your mother there?" Harry smirked at him

Draco's cheeks turned slightly pink at this, but he said nothing to the rhetorical question since he could see the wheels turning in Harry's head about whatever he guessed Draco thought they could do there.

"Well then, that answers my question. Fair enough."

Harry leaned down and captured Draco's lips with more vigor this time and smirk in his eyes. The mischief there Draco knew would not be contained for long, so he tried not to think about whatever Harry was thinking about.

Harry then moved to Draco's pale neck and his teeth grazed the skin lightly as Draco's gasp was expelled from him.

"I think I might have waited a bit too long to start contact like this." Harry muttered to Draco softly

Draco only moaned in response to the lips sucking the sensitive spot in the crook of his neck whilst Harry's hands hand wandered into the blonde's shirt. Hands that were quickly finding new ways to torture Draco with sensations and feelings he could only dream of.

The next thing he felt was his shirt vanishing and one of Harry's hands was pinching his left nipple as his lips gave a rather hard suck to his neck. Draco's eyes rolled into the back of his head with pleasure as his hips unconsciously gave a hard buck into Harry's groin.

This had then had the desired effect of causing Harry to moan slightly in want of more from his mate who was sitting so close to him and was so beautifully flushed and aroused for him much as he was for Draco. The dark haired teen knew they had to stop though, or else this would go too far and they would accidentally expose their relationship to the school.

"We need to stop Draco, or this will become dangerous for us. There will be plenty of time to explore later." Harry whispered in his ear softly

Draco whined in need to his mate who had left him so aroused for his touch. Harry gave the silver eyes that were pleading at him a hard stare.

"Later, I promise." He said softly before he smirked to himself, "However…to ensure you truly want to please me as your mate…you are not allowed to touch yourself, understood Draco?" Harry said with a gleam to his mate

The submissive side of Draco's veela understood perfectly what was meant by this but the blonde had yet to let his brain catch up. He whined at his mate to give him release still as Harry snapped his fingers firmly.

With the snap of his fingers, Draco went rigid in his place next to Harry. The magic Harry had done summoned something and it was now on Draco whatever it was.

"Feel different Draco? You should because I want you to please me later but I don't you pleasing yourself first. I am the only one who is allowed to please you as such unless otherwise I let you please yourself."

"You are my mate as much as I am yours, so you please me and as a reward I will please you." Harry smirked, "You will not be able to find release until later this evening now because the magic I did placed a cock ring on you to keep you from orgasm."

Draco whined pitifully now as he stared with wide eyes at Harry.

"You are not allowed to remove it Draco nor are you allowed to touch yourself either and if you do…the punishment will not be nice." Harry said feral, "Understood?"

Draco's veela internally submitted as the blonde nodded silently but felt pleased in knowing Harry would care for him as his mate. It would make for interesting scenes and memories during their new 'playtime' together and Draco felt happy knowing Harry knew this too.

Harry's eyes watched for signs of disobedience from his mate to the orders he had been given directly and Draco already knew instinctively that when the timing was right Harry would be a great father to their children. Draco then mentally smacked himself, '_T__heir children?! I am already losing it if I thinking that way! Come on Draco, get it together and focus on the present and not the future.'_

Harry nodded as he saw Draco had no more signs of showing he would disobey the orders and he stayed with Draco for a few more minutes and then they left separately for breakfast to avoid suspicions as the rest of school should be wide awake by then.

Draco was aching for release as he watched his mate disappear down the opposite hallway and cock ring his mate placed on him made him want his mate back in the room quicker so he could use his wonderful mouth to give him relief by sucking his erection, but he did not dare go against his mate's want by removing the metal ring or by doing this and relieving himself on his own accord. Draco knew Harry would keep his promises to him if Draco did as he was told and that made his body shiver with more pleasure as the cock ring grew tighter underneath his trousers and his body felt tingles everywhere.

Draco internally groaned to himself and thought night could not come soon enough today as he entered the Great Hall for breakfast.


	9. Chapter VII: Secret Kept II

**_Chapter VII: _**_A Secret Pranked is a Secret Kept II_

By lunchtime, Draco was nearly positive and sure that his two best friends in Blaise and Pansy had noticed his new state of discomfort since this morning due to his high state of arousal and the damned cock ring Harry had put on him earlier that morning when they were together. The blonde however, gave an inward smirk, as he knew the two of them likely thought he was nervous about their 'common room meeting' tonight more than the fact he was uncomfortable from high arousal.

Oh, how wrong they were…

Draco had told Pansy and Blaise to spread word quietly to the whole dorm that he needed to call a serious meeting tomorrow evening and that everyone there was required to attend it. They had to be there by nine o' clock tonight, and even Professor Snape was going to be there since he had already told him of the meeting and agreed it was for the best that he was there.

They had looked at him strangely until Draco mentioned that a special guest was to be present tomorrow night and it would look bad if any were to be absent from the gathering due to his stature among the community. They nodded and understood more now than before, but still found it odd Draco seemed to notify them at the last minute.

So, it went without saying that Draco was a tad off today and his friends had noticed no matter what the reason they thought it was from. His concentration was shot to hell and he was glad that lessons were not in session still; besides the fact it was the weekend and there wouldn't have been any even if they were.

Draco sat in his room with the door locked and silenced as he groaned in dismay and irritation. Honestly, Pansy was starting to get really annoying more than usual. Normally, she would ask once or twice and if no answer was given she would stop and give up until an answer came directly from the source or she would just drop it altogether. But after the death of his father, Draco had noticed that Pansy seemed more protective of him as her friend as well as Blaise was too, but Pansy was just more visible about it.

Draco put his ear to the door and cast a hearing charm to allow him to hear through the silencing barrier despite his veela senses allow better hearing already. He wanted to make sure he heard this conversation right.

"Blaise, I know Draco can take care of himself…" Pansy sighed, "But you've seen how he just seems to disappear at times around lunch to go who knows where and to do who knows what. I'm really worried about him is all?"

"I don't want him to hurt himself from something he inflicted to himself out of blindness, and his vanishing acts have made me nervous. He hasn't been the same since his father was killed by the aurors and he barely talks to us anymore? Surely, you've noticed this too?" She said

Draco felt guilty in this instance for putting his friends through this by accident, but he did not regret it because Harry's safety as his mate was more important to him now though his friends were important to him as well. He continued to listen as Blaise responded to Pansy worries over him.

"Yes Pansy, I have noticed it and it does worry me too. However, we have to remember that Draco is of age and now he is Lord Malfoy. What he does is no business of ours unless he asks us to be involved." Blaise told her softly, "For all we know, he could just be visiting his mother and helping her sort through the many things Lucius left behind in a mess for them to fix whilst he helps her grieve."

"Lucius was and still is her mate even after his death, but he is gone now, and if Draco were not in her life either; I doubt Narcissa would feel as if she had much to live for any longer."

"You're right Blaise, and I think perhaps maybe I am worrying a bit much lately. I still feel as though something about the whole situation is off though." She said

Draco slumped behind his door in relief that Blaise had seemingly gotten through to Pansy this time. He still felt guilty, but he didn't want to endanger Harry as his mate or their new relationship yet more than he might have accidentally done already considering Pansy was still suspicious somewhat.

Hopefully, he would be able to hold out until after tonight's meeting.

* * *

Night fell over Hogwarts Castle that evening with an uneasy sense of foreboding to Harry's senses and the wind's silent voice carried words of despair and hopelessness in the near distance to Harry's elven hearing that most others would never hear. He hoped Tom would slow down soon or his visions would be back with a vengeance and Harry knew this time might be pushing his luck.

Harry stepped away from the window in his dorm as he grabbed the cloak and placed it in his pocket and went to get Ron and Hermione to carry out their end of this arrangement. As he came down the stairs, Hermione greeted him with a smirk on her face that said she was playing with the dorm and to follow-along. Then she gave a small smile that she made sure Seamus caught attention to as Harry smirked himself and nodded his head to her.

Harry held out his hand to Hermione for her take and she mischievously pondered momentarily until she shrugged and took it as Harry led her to where Ron was by the fire watching them with half-mirth and half-exasperation to his expense for the need to add this part to the original plan. Ron was never a very good actor, but tonight Harry noticed he was in top form.

Harry handed Hermione to him as the whole common area was watching them with whispers and rumors being spread. The three of them smirked at each other and then for the benefit of their common room…lightly laughed at something between the three of them Ron was to have said as they left.

Harry heard Seamus and Dean's steps a few minutes behind theirs, so he knew they need to be quick. As they entered the fourth floor and the prepared unused classroom, Harry hastily closed his eyes and his aura sparked before his body was surrounded by a medium red glow.

Hermione and Ron watched in awe of their friend's power as the 'human' Harry came from thin air and was seemingly as functional on his own as the real one was. His friends knew Harry was powerful and they felt reinvigorated with hope that maybe they stood a chance against Riddle now more evenly than before. After the glow dissipated, Harry put the cloak on and let go of the glamour guarding his true appearance.

"You two know what to do now. Seamus and Dean will be here in about five minutes, and when they do just say 'activate' and the clone will respond with the intention it was made for. My magic made it usable this way. Do not mess this up, or there is going to problems later." Harry said quietly as he exited invisibly

Ron and Hermione just sighed and tried to ignore the clone for the moment as they started the process of fooling Dean and Seamus by making out as much as possible by themselves before Hermione had to activate the clone.

* * *

Draco stood outside the common area with anxiousness about wherever Harry was and did they manage to escape Seamus's plot to uncover the secret threesome rumor. Draco was about to die of need for relief, but he knew he was in a very precarious position right now.

All of the Slytherin students were awaiting them with Professor Snape inside the common area anxiously and he hoped Harry would be there soon.

"Well, this is a pleasant surprise." Harry practically purred in a pleasing tone

Draco's eyes looked up instantly to the sound of his mate's voice though he had yet to see anyone. Harry then slowly took the cloak off of himself and removed it and the blonde's eyes roamed his person momentarily.

This was the persona of Harry Potter as Lord Peverell tonight they would see, and this was the one persona the world would soon recognize as his mate's to the war and much more later on. Strong elven features of an angular face with high cheekbones and long midnight locks that reached just below the shoulder blades and locks that felt every bit silken as they looked now he guessed. Sharp and verdant emerald eyes that held knowledge, wisdom, and power amid a reserved smile were gazing at the wall as Draco took in his new appearance tonight. Clothing of the finest silks and satin woven into the robes most would assume were worn by royalty alone was what he was wearing this evening. Robes that Draco knew without a shadow of doubt hid a body of muscle that was stronger than it looked to the normal eyes. Not just because of Harry's years on the quidditch pitch here either.

"See something that you like there, dragon?" Harry asked with a knowing smirk

Draco remained quiet as his face tinged with a pale pink blush a bit when he finally noticed he was staring now more than observing and Harry had become aware of this too due to his comments. Draco sighed and took a deep breath as he tried not beg for release right now in the hallway and slowly regained his cool composure.

"We need to move or we'll be late." Draco said softly

Harry nodded in acceptance as his mask replaced his smile and then a calculating and blank face appeared where it had been. This facial mask was devoid of any emotion other than indifference to the settings. Draco appeared fascinated by this new look at his mate's abilities as he led the way for him though Harry neglected to tell Draco he already knew where the Slytherin dorms were. Perhaps that would be another story to tell another day...

* * *

They arrived outside the dorm directly at nine and when the dormitory opened for them to be admitted, Harry could hear the anticipatory breaths as he entered the room in his true appearance and they felt the power he commanded and radiated from his aura now since it was not being restricted before like it had been. The headmaster remained unaware of it due to Harry asking Hogwarts's spirit to hide it from him and she happily obliged him though she had been doing it all year and it taxed her reserves as the castle somewhat as an extra job she didn't really need to do, but one Harry was thankful the spirit did for him.

He walked gracefully as a cat that stalked prey and as silently as the softest summer breeze blowing through the slightest rustle of leaves on the trees around you whilst sharp green eyes observed the room of people with a piercing stare and observatory gaze. His appearance seemed to have captivated the audience and Professor Snape even seemed wary of this powerful wizard in the room now among his charges as he had shifted himself slightly in case of a need for his wand.

Draco stepped forward, "I called you here tonight to discuss a matter of grave importance and one that will quake the ground under many of your feet tonight. It will change the tide of the war between Harry Potter and the Dark Lord if all goes accordingly. First, as you all seem more interested in the guest with me than the actual discussion, let me introduce you."

"The guest is special in many ways. Slytherins and Professor Snape, this is Lord Peverell of the Ancient and Noble House of Peverell. The last descendant of one of the three brothers told of in the tale of the three deathly Hallows." Draco said respectfully

All eyes went from Draco to the imposing figure that was radiating magical power in silent awe and respect.

"Greetings to all of you tonight, though I wish I had come sooner. I sense a terrible foreboding power that lingers uneasily tonight in the the distant outside barriers of the castle and it concerns me greatly." Harry said as though he wasn't Harry Potter right now but truly Lord Peverell and they were two different entities.

"I assume you all wish to know how I know Draco Malfoy, son of Lucius Abraxas Malfoy and Narcissa Electra Malfoy nee Black? That is understandable; but quite frankly, many of you already know me as well though you do not connect this person with the Lord Peverell that you all essentially see before you right now. Look at my appearance closely for the answer you all seek." Harry said

The room was deadly quiet as they surveyed the one called Lord Peverell cautiously. The students seemed to not understand why he asked them this, but they did as was requested of them. Professor Snape was now very quiet and his eyes had narrowed to near slits as his years of spying came into activity with this news. His brain was in overdrive at who this person really was before them all and did he truly know them from somewhere else?

Harry turned to him and looked directly at him, "Severus Tobias Snape, Professor of this school and the son of Tobias Snape and Eileen Prince, your students seem to not be able to solve my riddle tonight, but you should be able to if you look carefully." Harry said to his Professor

Severus's eyes narrowed further as he surveyed the person known as Lord Peverell within the common room for his house. This young man was of dark Elven descent surely, since the long and pointed ears gave him away to this end, but he did seem awfully familiar and oddly so. Then Severus's eyes widened as he took in the small details that his students had all overlooked as his mind went to a state of shock and nearly broke down.

His hair was the color black and it was as dark as a midnight sky with no moon or stars to light a path at night. It was long a silken, versus the normal shorter head of shaggy and messy locks they were used to seeing each day. His eyes were emerald colored and they were brighter than any gem to be seen anywhere in the world. Eyes that he knew he only ever seen on two others in his lifetime. It couldn't be, could it?

Severus cautiously looked to his forehead with respect now as his brain caught up to his eyes that observed the figure and there it was behind the very carefully applied light make-up to make it visible yet not as visible as it normally was each day.

"Harry Potter." Severus said uncertainly as his students eyes widened and turned to the figure who now wore a gentle and reserved smile.

"Yes, it is me Harry James Potter in reality before all of you." He said, "However, my being Lord Peverell is no joke as that would not be something to joke about. I am the son of James Alexander Potter and Lily Etaine Potter nee Evans."

"The Potter clan is directly related to Ignotus Peverell in lineage and as the tale of him and his three brothers goes; I hold a very precious artifact from Ignotus that has been in my family for generations now and one I believe Professor Snape has even been suspicious about for years. The god of death's own cloak of invisibility given to him by death himself as the tale says he did." Harry said as he drew it out and showed it to them.

Blaise was the first to speak and break the student's silence, "This is all well and good but why have you come here with Draco and for what purpose?" He asked

Harry looked to Draco softly with concern, "You can tell them or I can do so. It's your choice." He said quietly

As Draco sighed and nodded, Severus was wondering where this new closeness between Harry and Draco came from since they had not seemed to be close as this at the beginning of the year for certain.

Draco stepped forward, "This meeting was called for a reason and I said it was serious because it is. My father's murder was not done by the aurors on a raid and it was not an accident either. The dark lord murdered him in cold blood and petty anger after he failed him on a mission my father likely knew was going to be impossible to succeed at. He was held captive for three days before he was called to give a report and during these three days he was tortured as well. The torture was dealt by his fellow death eater comrades on the orders of their lord. My father was then further tortured by the dark lord after his report when he was called to give it before he was killed by him in petty anger to his failure." Draco said icily

The whole common area was quiet and the silence now was chilled.

Harry stepped forward now, "He speaks the truth as it was I who told him of the details pertaining to the true reasons his father was dead."

"You will all remember that at the beginning of the year I was laid up in the hospital wing for the first two weeks of the term after our arrival here? The headmaster may have given some kind of reasoning to the student body for my extended stay there to decrease the underlying panic evolving due to the war ahead, but his reasons were given to keep me safe from the dark lord more than anything else and they are not what he told you they are." Harry said calmly

Severus's eyes widened as he realized what Harry was going to do and tried to stop him as he shifted to move his wand. Severus had almost cast the stunning spell when Harry's eyes turned to him with a glare and the gaze had immobilized him, but it had also kept him awake and aware wordlessly. Severus's eyes narrowed on Harry now; where had these new abilities come from and why did he hide them instead of parade them before everyone else here?

"The real reason I was there is due to my visions." Harry said calm as ever, "You may have heard these visions were fake most of the time or have heard that the papers seem to think they make me crazy; but in truth, they are very real and very painful."

"My scar given to me sixteen years ago by the dark lord when his killing curse had back-fired on him created a connection between my mind and his. When the dark lord is very angry and he feels violent more than normal, the connection becomes more sensitive to the magic between him and I. This sensitivity allows me to at times, enter his mind unaware on both ends that I have done so and I am to be witness to the atrocious acts he commits whilst my body feels the pain he inflicts on those he tortures as if it were on me personally."

"This is how I know Lucius Malfoy was murdered by the Dark Lord and this is how I know that the Dark Lord is moving quickly now as he prepared his new vampiric and werewolf allies for an attack." Harry said as he met Severus's eyes with a hard line.

"How-" Severus began as Harry waved it over for later.

"I am aware though, that such words of a grievous matter cannot be said without evidence to back it up. I have the evidence you seek to know, but I cannot guarantee that it will change your opinions about the matter and allow you to see the truth that the dark lord is not what he appears. It will be up to you to decide this for yourself in time." Harry said as he went quiet

Draco nodded to Harry as he then stepped back and closed his eyes and began to chant some strange words softly to the room. The words were foreign to most there, but sounded beautifully musical to the ears. Severus knew a little dark elven drow and wondered now just how much he may have misjudged Harry over the years. The common room grew warmer slightly, though unnatural, as Harry's aura spiked its power again and everyone but Harry and Draco were on alert.

Harry kept chanting until he had a bright aqua ring of color around him. He made a several hand motions into symbols used by elves for summoning magical objects Severus noticed and suddenly a pensieve of unknown origin to the dour professor had appeared in Harry's hands before the room as the aqua glow receded from Harry's body.

"This is a pensieve, though I am sure most of you know that and of what it does or it is technically used for. However, this one is rather unique I came to find over the last summer holidays. This was Ignotus's as well and this pensieve has abnormal abilities due to the number of enchantments placed on it through its many generations of use. Gringotts is still unsure that they have uncovered all its secrets and abilities, which says something considering how goblins are about secrets." Harry said with slight smirk and Severus wondered what was meant by that.

"One such ability of this pensieve is that any memory put in here cannot be changed into another similar one to fake a lie and give deceptive views to others if they had desired to do so. There are loopholes to this one as a discrepancy due to the fact that fake memories could be made for protection in case of emergencies or other serious circumstances, but on the whole, it will not be able to tell you anything but the truth within the memories. This is the very same pensieve I showed Draco the memories I had of his father's captivity and murder from the visions I spoke of with and now the same one I will show you from as well." Harry said

"Draco has consented to allow me to show you the contents as he believes it is crucial you know of them. Be warned that whatever happen in here is not truly occurring and that if you try to tamper with the memory whilst inside of it; you will not like the consequences that come from doing so. Draco and I are willing to answer questions you have, but not until this over." Harry said as he tapped the basin with his wand.

The students and Severus watched in amazement as the room before them fell away and dissolved as they now reformed inside the memory. Severus had never seen a pensieve that had been powerful enough to do this, though he had heard rumors that they existed, so this was fascinating to him and he wanted to study the pensieve if Harry would allow him to.

Harry showed them the memory of Lucius and Narcissa being put in lock-down at Malfoy Manor with Antonin Dolohov and Augustus Rookwood as guards to the home. They watched in horror as Lucius was dragged from the den down into the dungeons of his own home and chained there. They saw torture on a new level as Rookwood and Dolohov broke Lucius's body down before he was to be seen by the dark lord.

Harry then showed them Narcissa as a fearful wife who feared for her husband and watched as he told her that if he was to die that she had to tell their son not to make the mistakes he made by not being able to say no to his father when he wanted him to join Tom's plight. They watched in sadness as Lucius apparated away and Narcissa gave a silent prayer that said she hoped he came back to her.

Harry showed Lucius having given his report and the insane anger the dark lord had over this minor failure. Tom murdering Lucius for failure, then another as the traitor was caught, tortured and killed before his body was desecrated by a polyjuice potion as double body of Lucius Malfoy for the aurors to find in the Ministry atrium later since Tom at least had enough decency to let Narcissa bury the real one as it should be. Then he showed the memory of Narcissa finding her his husband's body after the dark lord murdered him and she cried and screamed in loss of her mate as the room swirled again and they were brought out of the memories to the present again.

The students were silent after this and knew not what to think of this. Many of the older ones seemed pale as they knew soon enough that could be them and the younger ones seemed afraid and unsure of what to do. They all had been groomed and reared from the time they were born practically to know they would one day serve this man who called himself the dark lord.

"He's not what you thought is he?" Harry asked them in generality, "The dark lord is actually half-blood though he parades himself as pureblood. His mother was Merope Gaunt and an heiress to Salazar Slytherin himself. She died giving birth to him in an orphanage." Harry told them

"His father was Tom Riddle Sr. and he was the son of a wealthy muggle man who lived near her in the village of Little Hangleton in a great white manor home. Where Tom still resides despite its derelict state and his convictions to hating all things muggle in any form. Anyways, Merope loved him though he did not love her back. She managed to douse him and keep him under the effects of the Amortentia love potion for many years and when she became pregnant by him; for some reason, she stupidly decided to release him from the potion."

"Perhaps she thought he had been under it so long that he wouldn't abandon her because he had come to care for her and to love her? Or maybe out of a sense of responsibility he would stay for his child...I don't really know the answers to this, but the dark lord's father abandoned her after she explained she was a witch and pregnant with his child to him. He didn't want anything to do with her or the child she would have and he considered them both as abominations to the earth." Harry told them sadly

"The dark lord's real name is Tom Marvolo Riddle Jr. He was named Tom after his father whom he despised for his muggle blood and Marvolo for his mother's father from pureblood lineage."

"The dark lord only desires truly two things right now. The first is to be rid of me and Professor Dumbledore who stand firmly as obstacles to his full control of our world. A world that if he controlled it; would be turned over upside down with utter carnage and murder all the time. The world's roads would be paved with blood as the number of people who died would triple and quadruple each day."

"The second is a world where he can control all that is his in whatever manner he pleases. This is his means of saying he will recruit you under the pretense of a set level of goals and guidelines to lure you in. Once you're marked though, you're at his command and you are now considered disposable to him if he needs you to be."

"Riddle doesn't care if he punished his followers with the same methods he would torture muggles with, and you saw this from the memories we just watched together. He's insane and he only wants to utterly destroy our world as quickly as possible before he moves on to the next wizarding area outside Britain."

"You all know me as Harry Potter, icon and epitome of the light. The savior guided by a mentor of a man you deem unsatisfactory for your own reasons. I have fought Riddle from day one since I came back to this magical community five years ago."

"It would be understandable to let you think that Albus Dumbledore was my mentor all these years, since most wouldn't know otherwise even if they looked as hard as they pleased. However, I will make one thing quite clear here and now." Harry said firmly

"I have taken advice from the Headmaster as cautiously as I could these last five years, but no longer will I do so. I am in no way his puppet he can tell what to do by pulling on strings he thinks are attached to me. I gave up trusting him fully about a year ago when he would not give me a straight answer to things that should have been simple answers to the questions I had asked him."

"I am Lord Peverell now and my decisions are my own. I will not allow myself to blindly follow a man like him as I had before in knowing what he has done against me and my family line. I may in time indulge the answer you are likely to want from this statement, but for now I remain silent to this issue."

Blaise and Pansy seemed to be thinking as they looked to the other.

"Harry, pardon me for asking, but I think many of us here understand about the dark lord and his lying ways due to the number of us who have Death Eater parents, which I am sure you know about by now. But what would it matter now? We were all given to him as though we were his personal property literally from the day we were all born?" Pansy asked

Harry stared hard at her with a piercing glare in his verdant eyes as she flinched to the look, "Is that truly what you believe Pansy Delorea Parkinson? You are the daughter of Lord Richard and Lady Reina Parkinson; a lineage of pureblood prestige and honor, and yet you have a mind of your own as do all who are in this room? You all are not dogs that are guided by a master to a food dish!"

"Your parents carved the path they were put on due to their parents because for them they were no other options to them they could see, but you are a Slytherin and a daughter of noble birth who has enough common sense to see that if you follow their steps… that the chances for your own survival are slim because you know this is not the type of life you want." Harry told her

"Salazar Slytherin prided his students on their cunning and ambitions in life. This was not meant in way to be offensive, but as way for you to see truth. Cunning enables a person to see where opportunities are and aren't and their ambitions allows them to seize the opportunities before they die out. It allows them to see where their own personal survival is more level than where it is going to get them killed."

"The battlefield is a cruel scene to all who are put on it and cunning allows those who use it wisely to escape unharmed or less injured than most. I have battled the dark lord since I came here five years ago, and I have seen my share of the battlefield while knowing I will see much more if Riddle is not stopped soon. Tell me now Pansy Delorea Parkinson, that if you follow your parents footsteps and were to become a death eater as they did; do think the dark lord would spare you if he needed to escape the battlefield and you were closest one to him? You are marked as a follower under his lead, and his followers are disposable to him, so you tell me if you want to live a life like this or not?" Harry hissed at her

Pansy's eyes narrowed at Harry for his words, "No, I don't wish to live like that but what other options are there for all of us here? The Headmaster would never believe we were not up to something if we all just decided to seek sanctuary with Hogwarts." She said

Harry sighed in pretend dismay, "You're right, the headmaster would do this. You are forgetting something Pansy, though." He smirked now

The brown-haired girl seemed confused.

"It is not the headmaster who is destined to take down the dark lord this time. I am and I have been prophesized from birth to do this. I do not let the headmaster tell me what to do anymore, and I am Lord Peverell. This angers the dark lord because technically he should have inherited the title."

"He did not because he gave it up when he made seven horcruxes to ensure his immortality to this world." Harry said, "You can be neutral and no one will say anything bad about if you do, but that doesn't mean you might not be affected by the war because Tom punishes those who do not pick either his way, the light side, or the highway. He will try and recruit you again and again. The more you refuse his terms, the more you suffer."

"The Peverell lineage has dark secrets, and among many of them are the rumors of it descendants being dark wizards as dark as they come. I am no dark wizard, but neither have I truly been light. I fought for my survival in this world as it was the only way I knew to when the headmaster of the school led me into danger at the end of each year because he could not give me simple answers to questions that needed to be answered. I am a gray power, but one of great potential in terms of the war."

"You could serve a madman in a grab for self-serving power, and take the chance you may not be alive next year or be alive. But your personality and views of the world are forever changed."

"You could seek sanctuary here with the headmaster, but he will not allow it for all due to his suspicions and distrusting nature towards Slytherin house."

"Or, if you want to change the way the school looks at your house for the better and so it won't looked with condemnation all the time and then to change the distrust of the community to people from Slytherin due to the war, you can seek sanctuary with me at Peverell Manor next summer. I don't care if the headmaster says I have to go to my relatives home for safety or not, because I am emancipated now and I can and will do as my destiny drives me to. Whether he likes it or not."

"I say this to all of you here. Peverell Manor is large enough three times over for us all there. You could seek sanctuary there and remain neutral. But, you could also have safe shelter there if you side with me and escape the discrimination of your family for deciding not to follow a man bent on destroying our world."

"I am a pinnacle piece of this war and I will see it finished, but it is foolish to think I should be able to do this on my own. I need however many allies I can have to call on. I may not have shown an inclination to be allies or friends with any of you, but just the same, none of you tried to make amends to the other house for the risk of being found out."

"You all are living in a wartime period and soon enough we will be called on from either side to do our part. I will not stand by idly let Tom Riddle destroy the world that took my parents from me, or the world that allowed me freedom to be who I was."

"Can you do the same?" Harry asked them all

Draco watched with observing eyes as his mate tried to reach out to his friends and his classmates with wisdom and experience behind the words. He had dealt with Tom too many times before, yet his friends were being difficult.

Harry noticed the uncertainty in the room, "I think you don't believe you're disposable to him. I think you need convinced the dark lord has no care for any person other than himself."

"Do you want to know how the dark lord was resurrected? Do you want to know how Cedric Diggory was truly murdered? Do you want to know how cruel he truly is? I can show you if you need the persuasion?" Harry said with a dark and bitter laugh that sent chills through the room

The room swirled again as an old memory came up while the present faded.

_:Flashback:_

_Harry and Cedric landed into the middle of a dark graveyard and seemingly alone._

_"I didn't know the Cup was a port-key, did you?" Harry asked as he panted and blood oozed from a wound on his arm from those damnable Skrewts of Hagrid's._

_"No. Wands out, do you reckon?" Cedric asked_

_Harry nodded and they pulled out their wands._

_Cedric was about to cast a Lumos when a quiet and eerie voice sounded._

_"Kill the spare." It said_

_The words were followed by a flash of green light that jetted towards Cedric and hit him square in the chest. His body fell to the ground as Harry trembled with shock. Where were they now and why would that happen? Unless this was a plan of Riddle's and someone tampered with the Cup turning it into a port-key._

_The next thing Harry knew he was slammed into a tall headstone and magically bound by invisible ropes as a dense fog cleared and a large cauldron on a fire bubbled in the distance before him. He looked up to the name on the tombstone, 'Tom Riddle' was what it had read._

_He noticed Wormtail, the true betrayer of his parents on that fateful Halloween night thirteen years ago, was attending something inside the cauldron._

_"Let us begin, Wormtail." Said the eerie voice again_

_Wormtail trembled but nodded, "B-bone of the f-father unknowingly g-given, you will renew your son." Wormtail said_

_Harry by now realized Wormtail was reviving his master as his scar started burning painfully when the ritual began._

_'Let it drown, please whatever that ritual is doing to Voldemort; let it fail and let him drown' Harry thought though he knew it was hopeless._

_"Flesh of the servant, w-willingly given, you will revive your m-master." He continued as Harry winced in intense pain_

_Then Harry watched as Wormtail brought up a hand, the one he framed Sirius Black with thirteen years ago with and had one missing finger on it; Wormtail gripped the dagger in his hand and swung it upward quickly._

_Harry realized the second before and closed his eyes to the act though he could not block the scream of pain that pierced the night air and Harry felt as though he had been hit by the dagger too._

_Harry heard the hand fall to the ground and then a sickening splash of water, as it was then added to the cauldron. Wormtail was panting for breath, and moaning in agony from pain._

_It was not until Harry had felt Wormtail's anguished and disgusting breath that he realized the man was in front of him. What happened next…there was nothing Harry knew he could have done to prevent it from happening._

_"B-blood of the enemy, forcibly taken, you will…resurrect your foe." He gasped_

_Harry couldn't prevent it; he was tied to tightly. He squinted down and struggled helplessly to break the ropes as he saw Wormtail's silver dagger shaking in his only other hand._

_Harry then felt the point put pressure into the crook of his right arm and penetrate the skin's surface. Blood, his blood, it seeped down the torn sleeve of his robes. Wormtail fumbled in his pockets for a glass vial as the blood dripped to the glass and then into it when he found it and held it to the cut he made on Harry._

_Wormtail staggered to his master in the cauldron and poured Harry's blood inside it. The liquid in the cauldron had turned bright white and Wormtail slumped to the ground now that his job was done._

_The cauldron simmered violently as it spewed diamond sparks in all directions. The light was so blindingly, that all around them seemed nothing more than an enticing blackness made of velvet. Then nothing else had happened…_

_'Let drown…" Harry thought, "Let it have gone awfully wrong somehow."_

_Then the cauldron stopped sparkling and the simmering ended while a surge of white steam emanated directly from the cauldron._

_Then through the mist in front of him, Harry saw it, with an icy surge of utter terror in his gut; the dark outline of a man who was tall and skeletally thin. He rose slowly from the inside of the large cauldron._

_"Robe me." He said in a high, cold tone from behind the steam_

_Wormtail, who was still sobbing and moaning as he cradled his left hand scrambled to his feet at once to pick up the black robes from the ground and then reached up and pulled them over his master's head one-handed._

_The thin man then stepped out of the cauldron, and stared directly at Harry and Harry stared back at the figure. To the face that had haunted his nightmares for the last three years after he came to Hogwarts. Whiter than any skull bone with wide, livid scarlet eyes and a nose that was a flat as a snake's with slit's for the nostrils._

_Harry knew it only a matter of time._

_Lord Voldemort had risen again…_

_:End of Flashback:_

The memory ended and the room swirled again and when they came to the present; Harry saw many faces who were just as pale as he had been that night during that atrocious event. Some looked sick too now and were turning green. Even Professor Snape, a war-hardened spy and veteran, looked rather pale now as he now had witnessed the true events of that night from last year when he and Cedric had taken the Cup together.

"I am partially to blame for the resurrection of your lord. He is the way he is in a functional form, as it was my blood he took from me to be in that ritual. However, what you did not see is that Wormtail was missing several toes and other assorted flesh pieces to his anatomy unless you looked very carefully."

"The dark lord had tried to do this ritual several times with other young wizards around my age who looked similar to me before the term had even started that year at the time and they failed because these young wizards were not as strong as I was, so therefore died due to their inadequate power and the dark lord's greed for a new physical form. Wormtail tried to get his master to use another as he had thought that with me being at Hogwarts; it would therefore make things more difficult to accomplish, but the many attempts had proved futile to the ritual."

"But when the dark lord will settle for nothing less than what he wants done; he plans to get it and so he got my blood by the time the tournament was over. He got the power to touch my skin by using my blood in this ritual. We all remember Professor Quirrel yes, and how he was not at our first year ending feast? Well, he had your lord living as a parasite under his turban on the back of his head that year. When Quirrel tried to steal an artifact placed at Hogwarts for safe-keeping, I went after him with Ron and Hermione to keep him from getting it. I ended up facing him alone as Ron had gotten hurt in a challenge before we arrived to where he was and there was not enough of a specific substance to allow both Hermione and I through the last barrier to even get to him."

"Quirrel tried to use me to get the object he wanted by coersion, but he inevitably failed, so his master told him to kill me and he probably would have if something they had not taken into account had not happened. Tom's killing curse back-fired on me because my mother gave her life for my own in her stand to protect me from him. When Quirrel grabbed me by the throat to strangle because he knew that he did not have the power to match me with his lord so vulnerable to my casting in that room, his hand started to burn and the flesh rotted rapidly and so he let me go."

"The dark magic from Tom's parasitic form against my strong magic that was yet untainted by dark magic had then allowed me to survive him from strangling me to death. I killed Quirrel that night but not with a curse or hex of any kind. I simply had realized my skin contact alone had burned his hand to a decayed sand at prolonged contact point, so after he let go of me; I lunged at him and I placed my hands on his face and held them there where the dark lord was most vulnerable as well as Quirrel to this attack. Quirrel's body decayed rapidly and he then died almost instantly after another few seconds and turned to dust as the spirit of the dark lord fled the room as it flew through my body."

"The full story is one kept for later if any are interested in it, but for now it is time for Slytherin house to decide its fate for the next few years as the war rages."

"I will give you sanctuary in my home should you ask and if you side with me in the war; you have my complete protection from the Ministry or the Headmaster if it goes that far and I assume it will for some of you before me due to your parents notoriety, but I won't push you further." Harry said

"Is there anything you would like to ask me?" He said

"Even if you give us sanctuary and we side with you for your fight, if we are disowned after this; what will you do?" Blaise asked him

Harry nodded, "A fair question I think since it is possible that this could happen. To answer it though, I will fight the Ministry that if you are disowned and your parents are charged to Azkaban for being Tom's follower; that you had no connection to their crimes and to ensure that any of you who hold titles from your lineages will not lose them due to your parents mistake."

"For those without titles, I will still fight the Ministry tooth and nail to ensure you have freedom after the war and will not be imprisoned for crimes based off of false allegations." Harry said

Blaise raised a brow, "How would you be able to do this?"

Severus snorted before Harry could answer, "I can answer that Mr. Zambini. Mr. Potter will have defeated the dark lord so he will be considered a hero. He could call in favors, but I'm sure that is not his style of doing things. He is however, Lord Peverell, and will hold a lot of sway over the Wizengamot if he wished. He will fight the Ministry I'm sure."

"Not only that, but most of the Ministry workers actually respect Harry for his deeds against Tom Riddle already. The Minister, while he respects him, is utterly scared witless of Harry and how much power he could have there over his hold due to his influence and respect among the workers in the Ministry and our community. He will fight Harry at times and it will seem discriminatory from the Ministry to do so, but it would be useless because the Minister already knows Harry well enough to know that when he sets his mind to something; he doesn't give up easily and if it is a fight he wants...a fight he will get in return." Severus said easily with a smirk

Harry was silent but rather surprised by the answer Severus had given them before he too smirked of his own accord now.

"Damn right Minister Fudge should know that by now. I mean, I only broke about-what two dozen time-turners and the glass cabinet they were in last year during the department of mysteries fiasco when my anger spiked at Bellatrix after she killed my godfather and then was dead set on revenge." Harry said to Severus sideways

"I believe that was the point in which you shattered the sphere of prophecy you had obtained in the hall of prophecy beforehand and ran after Bellatrix Lestrange to the atrium and then had tried to cast the Cruciatus on her and it failed?" Severus asked nonchalantly as he smirked too now

The room stared at Harry with wide eyes as he smirked, "Oh, it failed that time because my heart wasn't in it or as Bellatrix said to me when she laughed at me; you have to mean it for it to work, but next time she won't be so lucky. Ignotus gifted me during my impromptu early majority and inheritance." Harry smirked with a gleam, "Of course, the second time I tried it on her, I actually knocked her to her feet and made out of breath." Harry said slyly

Severus stared now as he watched Harry think about getting back at Bellatrix Lestrange for the murder of Sirius Black. He had not been told that Harry had attempted the curse twice on Bellatrix during that fiasco of an adventure, and Severus grit his teeth when he knew it was likely on purpose that he had not been told this.

"Of course my failed Cruciatus only led my ager to being spiked more. I almost bet that had I been allowed to test it again for a third try; she would have screamed like I wanted her to considering the pain she caused me emotionally that night by killing one of the few living people left who knew my parents and could tell me more of them. However, my good friend the dark lord Tom Riddle showed up there in person to save her hide and I didn't get to." Harry said sarcastically with a pout on his face while some of the slytherins looked at him as if he were crazy and others were awed that he had tried to take Draco's aunt on by himself.

Severus smirked again, "And that's when the dark lord nearly got permanent possession of you by possessing your mind in the atrium, if I recall? Luckily for you Harry, Albus showed up to thwart Tom's spell by distracting him with his arrival there."

Harry glared at him, "Shut up, that's not anything funny even if it is true. I am however, not controlled by an insane madman hell-bent on world domination by using dark magic."

"Touche…" Severus said with a smirk

Blaise and Pansy looked at Harry, "You must have some interesting stories to tell, Harry. Considering you mentioned turning people to dust, knowing of the dark lord's past, shattering time-turners, mind-possession, and more in that little spiel." Pansy said

"I would tell you some if I could, but I can't right now." Harry said, "I have…somewhere I need to go before I head to my dormitory. However, before I leave; I have to make sure of one thing."

"I want to know if Slytherin would be willing to aid me in the war ahead?" Harry asked, "I gave you my offer of my personal protection and sanctuary within my home that is well warded from generations of my ancestors living there. This would mean you could be friends and allies and more if all goes well in time. The dark lord will wait for no one nor will he stop for anyone, but neither will the headmaster and I will break my ties to him soon enough as is."

"I respect him as one fellow wizard to another, but there have been issues that have complicated our continued friendship any further and if at worst; we will no longer speak to the other at the end of this."

"I am Lord Peverell now, and the descendant to an ancestor who was said to be aligned to all of the houses in the castle and all of the lineages of noble and common birth alike. I am the prophesized child said to defeat the dark lord and I ask for your willing aid if you will lend it to me." Harry asked of the houses and lineages formally

To the shock of the house, Draco bowed low first and foremost of his acceptance.

"I, Lord Draconis Lucien Malfoy, willingly of sound mind and body accept the offer you gave us and I promise to lend assistance to Lord Peverell in any way I can during the war ahead as I chose of my own free will to fight here and now beside him whether I live or die."

Harry nodded and looked to the rest of the house for their answers.

One by one each of them made up their mind on their own and they all came forward and pledged the same oath as Draco had done to Harry in their willingness to side with him and to know they would not suffer for their parents faults any longer.

* * *

Then as Harry was leaving, he slipped his invisibility cloak to Draco and he knew why as he tried not to get too excited now about it and covered himself with it. He carefully followed Harry out of the dorm to avoid notice that he wasn't there any longer either. Surprisingly though, Severus stopped Harry momentarily after they had left as he seemed to have something he wanted to say.

"Harry, I know you said you were going back your relatives these holidays, but now for some reason...I don't think that this is what you intend to be doing for the holidays at all. I need to ask you some things and so I would like to know where you will reside?" He asked him carefully

Harry glanced at his professor warily, "You won't tell the headmaster, will you?" He asked him

Severus shook his head, "No, because for some reasoning I cannot understand; it sounds as if you don't believe in his goals any longer other than defeating Riddle and that he has essentially lost your trust. I imagine it was for a good reason if he did, and that makes wary of the headmasters intentions considering how he uses me as a spy among Riddle's followers. I have long felt out of place with the headmaster and his group, as you know."

"I felt more as though you knew what being a true leader in war does and is about despite your age, and so I want to know where you will be to talk over some things with you that might be important for you to know. As well as the fact that I feel as though I have perhaps severely misjudged you and your character when you arrived here five years ago, and I intend to correct what I can." He said slowly

Harry looked at him, "I think that is one of the few times I've heard you call me my real name without malice. It's a nice change, but in answer to your question originally…I will be at Malfoy Manor with Narcissa and Draco as Peverell Manor is still being updated on a lot of things there for now."

"It will be done by the end of the term though." Harry said when Severus seemed concerned and then relaxed at the words.

The normally dour man nodded, "Very well, I will see you there when you arrive and forewarn Draco I will be stopping by as he probably forgot to re-add me into the wards at his home, since I am assuming you two are going somewhere to finalize how you will be getting there without the notice of the Order and our meddling headmaster."

Harry nodded with a blank face as he left the dungeons with Draco and himself under the cloak when they reached the outside hallways. They went back to the room of requirement for 'planning,' or whatever else Severus thought they would we be doing there.


	10. Chapter VIII: The First Bond

_**Chapter VIII:**__** The First Bond, The Bond of Flesh**_

Harry walked silently alongside of Draco as they neared the seventh floor and the room of requirement. Harry's silence made Draco nervous somewhat though he suspected it was for a good reasoning. Harry's new abilities allowed him to be able to sense things others normally never would have felt, and so he had all the more reason to be suspicious or silent if he felt something out of place.

"Draco." Harry said quietly so he did not gain the attention of Mrs. Norris

"Yes, Harry?" Draco said in the same tone

"Would your mother mind it if we both finished our education after the war was over with if it was necessary?" He asked

Underneath the invisibility cloak, Draco's body was shocked at such a question but he remained calm.

"No, I don't suppose so. Why?" He asked

Harry sighed, "I have to convince the headmaster tomorrow to send everyone home earlier. The raid is an attack on the castle as I feared. Tom is infuriated by me inheriting what he believes is his by birthright."

Draco shook under the cloak, "Then why don't you go to see him now if it is this important?"

Harry smiled briefly and Draco noticed from under the thin material of cloth.

"Because, dragon, I intend to keep my promise to you and I will take care of you. I can and will protect you no matter what. But this requires the first of our three bonds to be finished." He said

Draco shakily drew breath as he kept moving, "Harry, the headmaster is sure to find out then about us no matter how hard we've tried to hide it now."

"I know, and this is why we won't be coming back after the holidays with the rest of our classmates. War is coming to us first and we need to be ready, dragon."

"I understand." Draco said firmly

The walk to the room of requirement was quiet the rest of the way although a semblance of tranquility passed over the two who would get there. Draco had all but removed the cloak now as the both walked further on in knowing they were beyond Filch and Mrs. Norris's reach.

Harry told Draco that Filch generally started patrol on the upper levels of the castle and Mrs. Norris was not far ahead of him. If they made it passed the cat without her notice, they were safe and he could remove the cloak.

Draco's platinum hair, pale skin that was as white as the finest snow, and grey eyes that glimmered with the moon's radiance made him seem like a fallen angel to Harry's eyes. It was almost too much to believe at times they were chosen for the other. Harry felt grateful to be given this chance and he was not about to let go of it either.

Meanwhile Draco thought of Harry in a very similar manner. His hair that was as dark as a moonless night with no stars glimmered brilliantly underneath the moon itself and shined with a blue tone of light that seemed otherworldly as his semi-pale skin made him seem much like an angel who had fallen out of the heavens from grace to the mortal world. His calm demeanor and peaceful nature for now seemed to draw in his eyes and made Draco want to drown in them forever. The eyes of emeralds worth more than the price of gold itself showed his fear to him at what was to come with the war ahead as his gaze levelled to his own.

* * *

They reached their destination soon enough, and Harry paced the in front of the doors before he stopped and opened them. He held out his hand to Draco with a smile that showed his trust in him and his love to him. Draco knew from this motion and this moment on their lives would be changing. How? He didn't know exactly, but he was sure that it was going to.

Draco took the hand that offered him security and comfort. He took the hand that offered him love and companionship. He took the hand he knew would protect him even if cost Harry his life to do so. He took the hand that he had wanted Harry to take five years ago, but had refused because he knew Draco was not yet ready for him to be in his life yet.

As they entered the room, Draco gasped at what he saw there. The room Harry had imagined for them tonight was beyond even that of the luxury afforded to Malfoy Manor in some ways. It was breathtaking.

Harry smiled softly, "I see you like the room, then. Good, because this room is similar to that of the master bedroom at Peverell Manor. Which, in time, will be our home together I hope." Harry said to him gently

Draco was at a loss for words to this and he didn't know how to respond, so he remained silent.

That was until Harry's arms circled his waist and drew his body into his and then his mouth captured his lips in a soft kiss. Draco responded eagerly to that as a moan sounded from his mouth too. Harry's hands wandered Draco's torso and heat was quickly flushing their bodies as Draco's shirt became unbuttoned and his tie undone before they fell away to the floor completely.

Draco could feel the bare skin of Harry's chest as well and knew his mate had no shirt on himself either. He wanted so badly to touch his skin with his hand, but refrained as it was Harry who decided when he could do that.

"I see you learned something from this morning, dragon." Harry whispered silkily into his ear, "You wanted to feel me, but you refrained because you know I'll let you touch all you want when I have pleased you, don't you." He said huskily

Draco's eyes rolled into the back of his head as he moaned loudly to Harry's sensual words and then his eyes popped wide open with a moan of want as Harry's hands slid beneath his trousers and one hand had cupped his scrotum and rubbed a finger over it pleasingly as the other rubbed his erection up and down in a very nice way that sent sparks all throughout his body.

"Damn it Harry, quit teasing me already, and fuck me right now. I can't take it anymore." Draco yelled at him

Harry just smirked at him from behind, "Really dragon, there's no need to curse at me, is there?"

Harry then yanked on Draco's cock with a hard pull and the blonde screamed in pleasure to it as he panted from exertion already. The cock ring remaining on him and growing tighter each second he spent like that with his mate. Harry then let go and Draco whined in protest, but before he could finish Harry had Draco on a bed that felt like he was lying on clouds.

Draco also was now aware he was naked as the day he'd be been born and was on his hands and knees. He looked up, only to have his eyes widen at what he saw awaiting him.

Harry was standing there before him in his elven appearance and just as naked as he was. His skin was pale, but not as much as Draco's own. However, it still gleamed and made him even more beautiful to Draco than he already was. His emerald eyes seemed to express his emotions to him completely and Draco knew in this moment he had loved Harry from the beginning. Now however, they were free to acknowledge the love as soul-mates, there was no other for them and that they would not look back and think twice on this decision.

Draco's eyes then could help but look at his body and flushed deeply when he saw the erection Harry had. It was long and thick, and it dripped its precious fluid for him as Harry stood there with control. It jutted outward and was making Draco want to taste his mate so bad.

Harry smiled then as he noticed Draco bowed his head to him and walked over to the front of the bed.

"Draco, look at me." Harry said softly

Slowly Draco raised his gaze to Harry and the dark-haired teen smiled.

"I may be alpha and the dominant one, but remember that we are still equal in terms of age if one being older by mere months. You are not to be submissive in the way that you must do as I say all the time. I would not like to take the fire you have out of you."

Draco then nodded and smiled as Harry returned the same smile he had worn earlier in the peaceful hallway to him.

"Now, would you prefer to be on your back for this; or do you prefer to be as you are now with yourself on your hands and knees?" Harry smirked at him

Draco's body flushed pink all over, "I think I prefer to do this as I am now." He leered at Harry who was making him wait

Harry smirked again, "Alright, but first you need to drink this." Harry said

Draco looked up as he resumed a sitting position.

"A Contraceptive Potion? Why?" He asked

"We are both from powerful and old lineages, and between us both our powers are quite strong. Together though, they are quite formidable and a natural pregnancy is possible as you know." Harry said

"While I don't mind if you were to bear my children Draco, this war is not over and it is simply not the right time for us to have children. Tom or the headmaster would use these children as bargaining chips against us if they knew of them and managed to get to them. Surely you know this?" He asked

The blonde seemed emotional for the moment, "You really want me for your mate then and you don't mind if I am the one to bear your children, do you?" Draco asked with a smile that could have lit the darkest pit of hell with light.

Harry smiled the same way back, "Draco, I have realized that we were destined to be together even if they way we were before was rough. I have come to care for you more than I can say even though our bond is so new to us both and when the time is right, you will be able to have children with me as my mate if you still desire to do so."

Draco nodded as he drank the potion down and resumed his former position. Harry ran his fingers down his spine and caused Draco to tremble with desire.

"Draco, you have no idea how much seeing you like this turns me on." Harry whispered into his ear as he bent over his mate and began littering kisses on the soft skin.

Draco was moaning softly as his arms were furiously trying to keep himself upright. He felt Harry's mouth near his ass and moaned louder as his mate used his tongue to spread his cheeks wider and lube him with his own saliva. His pre-cum was now coming out in larger spurts as the essence of their mating began to fill the room and their magical energies leaked from their bodies in acceptance of the bond and knowing by instinct what was to occur now. Draco also understood why Harry had also put the cock ring on him earlier today as well.

Even though he hadn't broken Harry's wishes and satisfied himself, Harry likely surmised that Draco would not last too long during their mating and so he placed the ring on him to keep him from climaxing too early into the rite as much as he had placed it there to ensure Draco knew he was not allowed to touch himself no matter how uncomfortable he got today.

But one touch from Harry's hand to his engorged cock had his pre-cum streaming out of him as he screamed at him to fuck him now.

"Easy dragon, since there's no need to be so impatient. We have plenty of time before dawn to play like this and even more time once we get to your home later on tomorrow." Harry said softly with a sensual lilting tone

"Harry, it's not that I am impatient per se, but more the fact that this teasing you are doing to my body is making me want to force my ass onto that gorgeous leaking cock of yours right now and I am having a hard time repressing the urge to do so." Draco said in want and lust to Harry's ears

Harry then moaned loudly as his eyes closed and he started to envision that little scene with want and desire for another time in the near future. He then rubbed Draco's cock as the blonde moaned loudly and panted heavily to the touch. His body shook itself as Harry noticed Draco was trying to get his cock to rub more to obtain more friction, and so Harry let him rub more as he panted heavily and a generous amount of his pre-cum fell into his other hand beneath his mate's strained erection before he then used it to cover his own arousal thoroughly.

Draco then felt Harry push against him with his cock as his hand then yanked at Draco again and the blonde's eyes widened at the thickness of it as he tried not to scream in absolute pleasure from the tug to his cock while wanting that thick erection to be shoved up his ass right then.

"Dragon, how do you feel knowing your essence and scent is covering my cock that is about to claim you? How do feel knowing that your delicious pre-cum is the only one that has ever touched this part of me and that it will be the only one to ever do so." Harry asked him huskily

Draco's eyes widened and he moaned loudly, "I love it. Claim me Harry, just claim me already. Fuck me until the mattress on this bed gives out. Fuck me until you know I'm yours eternally." Draco panted at him as his cock jerked with need and anticipation

Harry's last resolve broke and he none to gently pushed into Draco and his cock sheathed itself into intense heat. Draco, however, didn't care that he was in pain because this pain allowed his mate to have him forever.

Harry waited momentarily from Draco to adjust, but Draco had other ideas.

"Harry, I am not a piece of glass. I know of the dark elven urges and you are restraining yourself for my sake. Just fuck me already like you want to because I want it too and just as badly." Draco told him with ragged breath

Harry's eyes became darker to those words and acknowledged them as he began thrusting in and out of Draco rapidly and to his surprise; Draco met each one with equal momentum. Sometime during the motions Harry had removed the cock ring from Draco and had started to pump his cock with his free hand. Hogwarts Castle's sentient spirit was trying her best to restrain Harry and Draco's energy from the headmaster's notice by keeping it inside the room, but it was easier said than done as they were both so powerful on their own.

The room was now shaking and it appeared as though the floor would crack like if it were under an earthquake, but that the rest of the castle was not affected by it and there was a faint golden light coming from the two as the bond was being cemented between them.

"I know this may be sudden Draco, but I love you as my mate and I believe that deep down I always loved you. So, from now on as your mate I promise to cherish, love, and protect you with all my ability." Harry told him in a pant

Draco was panting equally hard, "I have always respected and admired you Harry ever since that day nearly five years ago in the robe shop where we initially first met. When you told me the truth of my father's death, I noticed how mature you had become and admitted to myself that you were attractive."

"Until we discovered that we were soul-mates did I truly see all the lies I have been fed, and came to recognize that despite bitterness towards you that deep down I loved you too. I promise you as your mate to stay by your side and to cherish you as you cherish me. I will love you with all my soul as you made it possible for me to do so by giving the chance to be your mate without hesitation. I promise to protect you when I can if you need it, and that if we ever have a family together, that our children will not have to suffer the same pains as we did as children while they grow up." Draco told him sincerely

Harry then gave one final thrust as he acknowledged the words and golden sparks of energy came from them and Harry's seed entered Draco's body with a yell of his name in climax and his hand squeezed Draco's cock. The pressure drew Draco into climax as he too spent his seed onto the sheets below him and yelled Harry's name in return. When both reached the end of their climax, they dropped onto the bed beside the other and feeling the connection between them settle.

It was a warm feeling underneath their skin that they both had never known and it was also a welcome protection for them in these times ahead that was sure to be horrific with Tom and his war.

Draco fell asleep first, utterly exhausted from their mating, as he whispered 'I love you' before he zoned out. Harry laid there momentarily with a peaceful mindset as he felt his mate rest his head over his heart. Soon, he too fell asleep with a smile and tried not to think of tomorrow's chaos.

Hogwarts's sentient spirit smiled upon the two mates now sleeping soundly. She wished them a long a prosperous life together, and hoped they managed not to live the same fates as two others did centuries before them. The road will hard for them now and they needed to be strong.


	11. Chapter IX: War before Christmas Break

_**Chapter IX: War before Christmas Break**_

After Harry and Draco had fallen asleep in the room of requirement, the school's spirit blessed their bonding quietly amid the chaos happening in many minds both in and out of the school. Harry had known the spirit would not have been able to hide their bonding all the way through, so he had asked her to hide it just until after the bond was permanently sealed and to then hide them from whomever in the castle came to search for them.

Harry had been right in assuming the headmaster would be infuriated by his and Draco's bonding underneath his watch and so he had personally deigned to find him little to their awareness of it, but then the headmaster must have realized the spirit was hiding him and Draco herself from him because the spirit no longer agreed with his plans for the war and Harry's involvement in it. He had cursed the spirit under his breath and went back to his office to plan on how to regain control of Harry without his mate knowing he had done so.

This was all being done as Severus felt the same wave of massive magical energy down in the dungeons and he sat in shock to what he felt. Harry, as Severus well knew to a point, was powerful as a wizard…but this powerful; he hadn't had any idea until now why the headmaster wanted him under his control if he was truly this powerful and he also made up his mind to set things right by his treatment of Harry as much as was allowed now due to the peace between the houses.

For Severus though, Harry to have Draco as his mate was something even more shocking to him. They had seemed no more close to the other than as was usual at the beginning of the year before Harry was in the hospital wing for three days. In that time, Lucius had been killed and Draco was uncertain of his future. Severus had been sure his godson would have come to him for advice, but he never did and that had worried him somewhat.

The more Severus thought about this, the more he saw much more clearly at just how heavily he had misjudged Harry over the years. In all likelihood, Harry's visions had led him to confront Draco after he witnessed Lucius's death firsthand. Severus once thought these visions were not as real as the headmaster had made them seem like, but in truth, these visions were both blessings and curses for their side. They had allowed them to spare innocent lives and plan counterattacks effectively to Riddles's raids. Severus knew he owed much to James now for allowing him to live all those years ago when he saved his life from Sirius's childish antics and to allow him see his son grow to the man he was today. It was with new resolve Severus found in himself to keep his promises to James and Lily before they died and to break his ties from the headmaster like Harry had done. The promise that if things should turn for the worst, that he would protect their son even if Harry was just unaware of it.

James and Lily knew the headmaster would use their family and that it might cost them their lives, but they had never figured out just far Albus was willing to go. Harry could have let Draco drown in his uncertainty until ultimately his godson likely would have chosen his father's path out of fear because he thought he had no other choices left now that his father's protection of his family was absent. But Harry was now Lord Peverell, and so he offered Draco friendship and security in return for his allegiance and a united front from all the houses.

It made sense to the Potion Master now as he realized exactly how often Draco disappeared around lunchtime, and only to reappear for afternoon classes. On time too though it was close call for some days. Harry and Draco were likely together formulating on how to convince Draco's housemates that they had other options now and it wasn't required of them to sacrifice their lives and freedom to man who would kill them all eventually anyhow. Draco and Harry must have realized their bond to each other at some point or else they would not have bonded so soon.

Severus smiled to himself inside his chambers. The war was about to drastically change now that Harry would no longer allow himself to be manipulated. Either by Voldemort or Albus Dumbledore. At least the students were asleep now and they all had missed the pass of extreme energy or else there would be a number of questions being directed at both of the two tomorrow.

Meanwhile, outside of the school, Tom Riddle felt the bond cement permanently from his connection to Harry and he then grit his teeth together in knowing he had assuredly lost the Malfoy family's support when Draco bound himself for life to his mate since Lucius was now dead and knew the truth of his death by his hands from Potter, which meant his monetary means were going to quickly dry up if he didn't do something fast to find a new source of money.

Tom now regretted killing Lucius out of his anger before, and he never regretted anything generally. Emotions were a frivolous thing and waste of time if you contemplated on them too much. He had never really had many emotions other than anger, so regret was new for him. If he had known that killing Lucius would have come to this, he would not have done it so hastily.

He knew he had to act faster now if he wanted to go and win the war and soon.

* * *

The next morning came much too quickly for either Harry or Draco's liking. The blonde veela smiled softly as he breathed in the scent of lilies and jasmine. The unique scent of his mate that he loved more than he cared to admit. Even though it wasn't a very masculine scent to define Harry by; he didn't care as long as it was there to comfort him when it was needed the most.

Draco turned over to see Harry smiling at him and so he wondered what time it was.

"Morning dragon, how are you feeling?" Harry asked softly

Draco smiled, "Sore, but in a very nice way and that's to be expected considering last evening. What time is it?" he asked with smile

Harry sighed now, "Almost eight o' clock. I need to go see the headmaster soon though and before everyone else is awake too, so are you able to join me for a bath before I go."

Draco nodded, "Yes, just let me get up."

Harry nodded silently and drew his arms from his mate who then wanted them back almost immediately and wished they had more time to just lie there and hold the other. Draco stood slowly as well and winced at his sore backside, but then smiled to Harry showing he was alright and he didn't mind the slight pain he had when he saw Harry's eyes watch him in concern.

Harry had also asked the room to provide a bath for them and soon enough a door connecting to the side of the main room appeared. Once inside, they nearly smiled as they found a bath already run within the tub and bubbles were already floating in the tub as well. Harry stepped in first and then helped Draco somewhat considering his soreness much to the blonde's chagrin and annoyed looked; though internally he was secretly pleased by this gesture. Harry, however, let him ease himself into the bath as best as he could.

"Draco, I have a feeling the headmaster may already know of us and so I fear there is danger ahead, but I still need to see him. I know you don't trust the headmaster, and quite frankly; I don't trust him as much as I used to, but you also need to trust me in the sense that if he does know of our bond and tries to do something about it regarding me; that I know how to divert his attention from it long enough to warn him of the attack to the school and to escape his notice before he has a chance to start it." Harry said softly

Draco tensed somewhat at this, "Harry, I do trust you. As odd as it is, I do truly trust you and my promises during our mating last night were not one-sided at all. Just promise me you'll be at Malfoy Manor later alright?" He asked softly

Harry smiled, "I will do my absolute best to be there. You said normally after the train ride you would apparate with you mother to the house, correct?"

Draco nodded quietly.

"I'm going to get the headmaster to allow us to leave after breakfast, so we should arrive by noon to king's cross station. If I do not appear at breakfast, you can reserve suspicions that something went wrong during my time in his office, but I want you to go home with your mother anyway and if I do not appear at the house by two pm, you can send Severus after me. He'll know how to get the headmaster to answer to him about my whereabouts without further suspicions on him arising yet."

Draco nodded, "Be careful though, the headmaster is still a powerful wizard as loathe-some as he is."

"I know." Harry sighed

The two finished washing quickly and sat in the tub with a comfortable silence as the last of the bubbles disappeared. They then dressed for the day ahead with a tense and uneasy feeling in both of them. Harry gave Draco a pain potion to avoid his friends from asking questions and kissed his cheek before they departed separately. Draco sincerely thanked him silently for the gift and made a note to himself to actually verbalize his thanks later on. Draco went back to his common room with a sense of unease in his steps though he didn't say much when Pansy and Blaise cornered him about where he disappeared to last night in hushed voices.

Harry walked down to the headmaster's office with a determined mindset and hoped that everything went smoother than he believed they were going to go.

* * *

As Harry approached the office entryway, he felt uneasy of this, but he had no choice but to confront the headmaster this morning if he wished to protect the students here of the raid who were unaware of the impending attack. As he stood outside the stone gargoyle he hesitated some but found his resolve quickly and then said the password with a strong tone that hid his underlying fear of what would come to pass.

"Ice Mice."

The gargoyle had moved aside and allowed him entry at the stated password and Harry allowed the staircase to take him to the doorway without him jumping stairs to get there quicker. He raised a hand to knock but was allowed entry before it made contact with the door as he heard the headmaster's voice from within.

Harry rolled his eyes to this one. How typical of the headmaster since he did it to nearly everyone who came to the door as if he knew he was expecting them to come anyways.

Harry entered the office cautiously and the headmaster seemed surprised by his being there though Harry knew he truly wasn't.

"Harry, I am surprised to see you. How are you doing?" Albus asked pleasantly though internally he was seething by Harry actions against him last night.

"Headmaster, I am doing fine. However, I came to warn you that the student body needs to leave here after breakfast immediately." Harry said, "Riddle is on his way here to Hogwarts through the Forbidden forest to assault the school with his new vampiric and werewolf allies and they will be here by ten sharp unless the vampiric allies are not ones that can walk in sunlight; though I highly doubt it."

The headmaster seemed to pale at this, "How many are there coming here to assault us, Harry?"

Harry seemed to think about it, "I would say enough to put the staff in danger without back-up if the students went home. If the Order were to be here, however, we stand a fair chance at winning against their assault without the need to have the students remain here in locked dorms, but the students are the first priority here and they should go home because there is still risk involved no matter how prepared we are." He said

"I also ask that I go with the students on the train since the DA and I can eliminate any threats from death eaters that may await us on the platform when we arrive there. First and second years should not have to fend for themselves with only stunning spells to use against them as I did previously. You well know this by now, I hope." Harry said sternly with a hardened gaze to the elderly wizard

The headmaster gazed at Harry momentarily before he sighed, "Very well, I will have the students who were in your defense group be notified by you to take your orders for the battle at the platform and the plan you have for it if it arises once on the train lands at the station. The staff and the order will congregate here to prepare for battle to defend the castle itself."

Harry nodded as he turned to leave.

"One more thing Harry?" Albus said softly as he pretended to care

Harry turned to him.

"I have made many mistakes in my lifetime that I can never fix even if I wanted to do so, and so I trust you to know what you are doing out there among the students Lord Peverell as it is you who have faced him more times than any other and survived his wrath. With my saying this, I hope that yours and Draco's bonding will last and Tom will be defeated in time once and for all. Our world needs to change from its old and more traditional ways as a more accommodating society and you know of this as well as I do. Good luck and let us bring peace to our homes finally."

Harry was internally shocked by these words but nodded with slight move of his head and left for the Great Hall to eat as he tried to figure out the motive behind Albus's words if there truly was any to be had. He suspected there was, so he needed to be extra cautious now if he wanted to survive the war.

* * *

When Harry entered the hall for the morning meal, Draco felt internal relief and his body relaxed some more. Harry sat with Ron and Hermione so nothing seemed out of place. Now all appeared normal as the headmaster entered for the meal as well though the vibe in the hall was anything but normal. After the meal was over and the dishes were cleared away, Albus stood to say something to the staff and student body and Harry grimaced to the reaction it might have.

"I wish all the students to know you will be leaving right now instead of this afternoon like normal as I have been forewarned of an attack to the school by the Dark Lord Voldemort and his new werewolf and Vampiric allies that will be arriving here shortly." Albus told them calmly but with a grave tone

The student body seemed eerily silent now and Harry noticed the new tension in the room with the colors of many fluctuating auras. Draco noticed the new tension as well though he appeared indifferent to it all. However, he did notice his mate's irritation now from the auras he likely sensed that were changing rapidly as emotions tore through the students in the hall. The blonde felt sympathetic even though he had no idea how these auras made Harry feel. It must be hard on him though since Harry seemed like he wanted to scream at them to wise up and show some courage.

Draco returned his attention to the headmaster as he continued speaking when the student body calmed some. Harry seemed to not care as he glared at the Gryffindor table like it should burst into fire. Draco smirked to this; his mate was too predictable at times.

"Know that I have already made preparations to protect the school from the assault and the staff here along with some other on their way will not let Hogwarts fall, but we also aren't risking your lives to protect it even if you'd want to stay to defend the castle. There's a chance the station will be ambushed as well. So, I have left a warning with Mr. Potter of the attack and so he is the one going to be in charge of the protection of the Hogwarts express with his plan of action against the death eaters there if any."

"Some of the older students besides him know what to expect in a death eater raid as they have also faced this kind of adversity in their time here or at home, and so they will know what to do if the death eaters should attack the platform. I leave it to Mr. Potter and all whom wish to fight from fifth year up to listen to his advice with close attention and to be on guard for anything out of place. Mr. Potter has long since been fighting the death eaters and the dark lord as we are all aware, so it should be common sense that if he says you need to do something that it should be done. I do not expect fourth years and under to take part in the battle if it should come to this, but if you feel you want to take part; that is your decision and I cannot stop you."

"Other than this grave news I have brought you all this morning, I wish all of you a happy holidays with your families and I hope to see each and every single one of you back after them healthy and happy as well."

Albus said this to them all as he gave a sad smile to the many students in front of him. Harry seemed to get a sense of foreboding now as he watched the headmaster's actions and as his aura seemed to tone down in brightness. Something was already suspicious here and he knew it. The students overall seemed not to notice it because they did not know Albus the way he did, but some of the more intuitive ones picked up on it easily if they knew what to look for in the headmaster, like Hermione or Draco for instance.

* * *

The train was already at the Hogwarts station by the time the students were ready to board it, so they had all been hastily pushed onto the train by their heads of house. Minerva gave Harry a last minute talk as he boarded and then Severus gave Harry a look that said to him that he trusted him to take care of his students in his stead now that they all sided with him in the war, and Harry nodded back as he understood the meaning in the gaze. Harry then immediately told Ron and Hermione of what he'd felt last night before he reached the Slytherin Common Room where Draco waited outside for him and then they set to forewarn the other DA members and any other fifth, sixth, and seventh years who wished to fight with them along with the plan of action he had made during breakfast and as the headmaster spoke to the students. this was all being done in a hurried fashion whilst Harry went to find Draco and the older Slytherins who were willing to stand up to their own parents in this war now.

Harry found the Slytherin seventh years and sixth years easily as they had grouped together in a compartment towards the middle of the train along with a few fifth years he recognized and who were proficient enough at dueling to stand on their own from what he knew of them.

"I see you've all already made up your minds then?" he asked with amusement

Draco smiled, "My mother will remain hidden and not get involved in the fight unless she feels it is necessary for her to do so, but the others here are going to fight by your side today as I will. They gave their word to you and they meant it. This means freedom for their lineages as much as my own."

Harry nodded with a reserved smile, "I see that. However, just know that right now it is too early for us to use any form of dark magic without causing more suspicions on you not truly being on our side or on me from turning into the next dark lord as the newspaper thinks will happen. So, you'll need mostly light offensive magic to fight with as much as all the others will be doing."

The group stared at this, "We knew this, but why would you categorize yourself as one of the ones who would use such magic?" Blaise asked curiously

Harry smirked at them all as Draco remained silent and appeared indifferent to the question, "Just because I know the Cruciatus curse and have used it a couple of times does not mean that is where my knowledge of dark magic ends. Keep in mind what I said earlier about how once the Peverell clan was known to have some of the darkest of the dark witches and wizards in it."

Blaise nodded as did the rest, "So it was true then, that the Peverell lineage had the nickname the 'the Bloodmoon Clan' after all."

Harry smirked to the group, "Very much so, though I do not enjoy dark magic usage for the purposes they did. However, in relativity, my knowledge of the dark arts probably rivals our resident dark lord's own knowledge of them. In fact, I would bet that now I know more than he could dare to hope to know on the topic, but I digress as we'll never get an answer to that. Know thy enemy, after all." Harry said nonchalantly as the others paled some whilst Draco remained calm to this.

"I have no intention of marking you all or using you as Tom does his followers. In fact, I find the idea atrocious since it strips others of their freedom to choose. So relax a little." Harry said exasperatedly

They all nodded and relaxed to this.

"I need you all to for a group for yourselves and to help the defense group I trained two years ago against the attackers. They likely will wonder what you're doing as they are unaware of your allegiances to me except for select few, but don't let this and their behavior throw you off guard. This will be a chance for you all to be showing the student body the first united front from our houses in over many centuries as I will be associating to you by your names now."

"There can be no doubt that when we arrive some of your parents will be there to try and attack the younger years to get at me. Death Eaters, as you may or may not know, do not intentionally hurt their own but they also have no qualms over hurting or killing those they deem unworthy. I want your group to cover the students and the other group of Slytherins to focus on the younger students and getting them all out of there as fast as possible with as little collateral damage as possible along with those I set up to do with the others."

"Like I said before, Death eaters may not attack their own, but they have no qualms about hurting children who aren't of their ideals and so killing them means less unworthy blood to the world we live in to them. Draco, Ron, Hermione, Pansy, Blaise, and I will be going into the front-line of fire to show the united stand and will provide the basis of cover to allow all of you to get the others away from the battlefield as I suspect that we will be forced to engage them and there will be blood spilled today no matter how hard we try not to allow it."

"I also suspect a chance that the dark lord may also have sent dementor's with them, and if so, leave them me as I can conjure the most powerful Patronus charm among the group of us." Harry said heavily as the other notice his stress levels hike up and his shoulders tense

The group of students nodded as Harry turned to the three mentioned before whilst Draco wanted to badly ease Harry's stress and rub his shoulders. he didn't like seeing his mate so worried like this, even if there was cause to be so.

"Blaise, Pansy; I am asking you here and now to swear to me that if you come face to face with your parents that you will not think twice of betraying Draco and I whilst on the front lines with us." Harry asked tightly with an edge to voice

The two seemed nervous and shivered by the tone he had directed at them but resolved themselves easily.

"We're only nervous since this will be the first time we'll have truly seen the battlefield from the light side perspective. As most of us here are as well, but know that Pansy and I won't abandon Draco and your side if he decided the light was worthy of his allegiance as he doesn't give it easily." Blaise said

Harry nodded as he turned to leave, " Then I will take my leave to speak with the rest now and leave all of you to prepare yourselves mentally for what is to come. Draco, I want to speak to you alone outside a moment if you will?" Harry asked courteously

Draco nodded his head as the others wondered where this new friendship Harry and Draco seemed to have formed came from and followed Harry outside the compartment. Once outside, Harry sighed "The headmaster already knew about us and instead of trying to capture me on sight, he gave us a sideways blessing and said some things that are highly suspicious to his motives as he was acting odd when he spoke before he left. His aura was also off in color tone when in the hall as well. Be on your guard today, and I think you need to tell your friends about us so there isn't any more secrets left to keep between all of you."

"Ron and Hermione already guessed we were soul-mates and so I had no choice but to confirm it as you know." Harry told him seriously now

Draco stared in question to the request, "Are you sure about this?"

Harry sighed, "No, I'm not sure this is the right thing to do yet but I have no choice in case the headmaster has something planned too that I did not foresee and I don't want to take chances that it will come to haunt us. I know this is not an ideal place for you to tell them of all the prior on-goings between us last term, but it cannot wait further and warn them about us not returning after brteak as well since my friends are aware and do not begrudge me of the decision I made." Harry said

Draco nodded in understanding, "I see. Very well, I'll do it as you requested, but you'll owe me big time for it." Draco smirked at him now as he walked by him and his breath ghosted Harry's neck

Harry's eyes gleamed in desire, "I'll make sure you're compensated in full later, but for now I must go." Harry whispered with desire as he kissed his cheek

Draco went back into the compartment and tried to decide how was the best way to tell Blaise and Pansy about what they'd missed during the first half of the term with as little invasion to their privacy as possible. This was as Harry went to gear up for battle mentally whilst he ironed out the plan with his other fellow classmates they would now fight alongside of.


	12. Interlude III: True Friends Last Forever

**A/N: **As of 06/26/13, I have been doing slightly better health-wise, but I am still extremely sick. I am writing better now and at a more productive pace if you noticed any, so I hope this pleases my many readers out there. Also, as sad as this is for me to say it, I will be removing Dark Phoenix from my profile and Soul-mates will once again be a solitary piece of fan-fiction with no companion piece in a reversed world from Soul-mates. Before you scream at me, I am doing this because the plot has delved too far away from where I intended it to go and thus the chapters do not flow correctly and give me problems writing them out, and so I will take the story down with a need to re-think of how to organize and revise it before attempting to do a re-write of the work. The story may in time return, but it will be slightly different in mechanics than its prior version and will again...not be a companion piece to soul-mates any longer.

**Interlude III:** True Friendships Last Forever

After Draco re-entered the compartment as Harry left to try and help keep the younger years calm and from panicking too much, the two groups of older slytherin students Harry had formed to cover the younger years during the platform battle had gone into the next compartment over to discuss a strategy of some form or another on how would be the best way to cover them if they all panicked because they thought they were trying to help the death eaters and tried to keep away from them. Draco's sensitive hearing told him this, though he said nothing of it though it did strike a point in his mind as he thought momentarily on the topic.

Blaise and Pansy remained in the outer area compartment waiting for him and were chatting quietly among themselves as he came over and sat down quietly.

"Blaise, Pansy…there's something I need to discuss with you both since you're my best friends and Harry thinks it's best if you knew now about it from me rather than perhaps the newspaper or a gossip mill if they ever got ahold of this information." Draco said softly as he interrupted their conversation

The two looked at him with curiosity as Draco sighed to himself.

"You've probably wondered on multiple occasions last term where the hell I disappeared to at lunch hour everyday after the first few weeks had passed by and then my father was murdered. You've probably been worried as hell that I was about to fly off the handle and do something I'd regret in the end." Draco told them, "But the truth of the matter is that this decision I made has only brought me a new freedom I never have known and a new happiness I never have discovered before. Let me start from the beginning if you will before you give those looks…" Draco said dryly

Blaise and Pansy looked to the other and then back at Draco sheepishly as they nodded in compliance.

"I'm sure you both remember how sour I was after I had been led to believe my father was murdered by aurors and the ministry's decree of uplifting their ban on the Unforgiveables for them to use if necessary. We all also know Harry was in the hospital wing at the time of his murder, and so technically he should have not been aware of the happenings that went on." Draco said

"Harry's story was all true that he told in the common room yesterday evening. He truly did see firsthand how the dark lord murdered my father just as he showed us that night in the common area with the pensieve memory from Ignotus's special Pensieve as he originally done with me alone to give me time to come to terms with the new development. However, I wasn't always aware of it like this after these things occurred. In truth, I really was about to explode and do something terrible due to my anger; but Harry managed to save my soul after he found me in the owlry when I left dinner early one evening and asked to speak with me privately."

"Of course I was suspicious of his motives at first, as Harry has never trusted me like this in past, so I was naturally wary of the behaviors he exuded toward me. But at the same time, something in my brain said to go and hear him out and I did. I first thought he was insane, and that he was pulling some massively cruel joke on me, but I discovered Harry isn't crazy like the newspapers all claim. He truly has visions of the future or present and it was his desire to see me have the full truth and make a logical decision that led him to seek me out." Draco said

Blaise seemed calm over this but Pansy was nervous now, "Draco, is Harry truly as powerful as he resonated that night in the common room?" She asked

Draco smiled, "Yes he really is, but he rarely allows others to see the full power he has due to his enemies at large. Pansy, when Harry sought me to tell me the truth; he did more than give me the truth that night." Draco told them wisely

Pansy's eyes narrowed, "How so?"

Draco sighed, "You know as well as I that Harry and I have never gotten along, so at first I thought this would be a good chance to gain new blackmail material on him and prove that he was just a raving lunatic and spouting nonsense again. How wrong was I?" Draco wondered aloud, "Harry told me the truth of his darkened past in order for me to understand why he sought me out. He has told of things about him that only select few know of and even though we supposedly hated the other for six years; Harry just let it go and trusted with all this sensitive information from the very beginning as if he knew I would do the right thing but yet waited to see me to make the right choice before he continued on."

"He is truly Lord Peverell by lineage and he told me that we are soon to be at war again. He said that the time for childish name-calling and taunts were over if we wanted to live through this. He told me that he was a figurehead of the war and that it was stupid to think he could win a war on his own unscathed, so that's why he needed as many allies as he could find who were willing to follow him in his plight."

"I had been astonished by his maturity, and respected his choice to accept his role in the war he never wanted to be a part of in the first place and a war he was thrown into without even being asked to help with. He was the one who we have all heard about who was destined before his birth to defeat the dark lord."

Blaise and Pansy stared at Draco now, "Harry was the one destined to fight him before he was even born?" Blaise clarified

Draco sighed, "Yes, although technically their were two infants the dark lord could have chosen to make his enemies. However, the dark lord knew Harry and his clan posed much more of a threat to him and his regime, so that's why he has no family left now besides those he considers family. Riddle fought tooth and nail over the generations to try and end the Potter clan so the prophecy of his defeat would never occur."

Blaise and Pansy nodded in solemn understanding now.

Pansy eyed him, "But that still doesn't explain the many disappearances you did last term?"

Draco smirked, "Well I suppose not. After the initial meeting where I learned the truth of my father's death; Harry had offered me his hand of friendship and safety in exchange for my help as an ally he could call on. I had no problems giving it since the dark lord gave more than enough reason to hate him recently. However, we both knew that I was not enough and the student body needs to be united in this war."

"I disappeared around lunchtime a lot because I was meeting Harry away from prying eyes to formulate how to get the rest of you guys on board with us. This led to Harry and I doing what I had rhetorically called 'friendship-building sessions' at first, however, I came to really enjoy his company the more of these sessions we had."

"I admit that I have kept my fair share of secrets this term, but the worst is yet to come." Draco said

Blaise raised an eyebrow and spoke finally, "How so?"

Draco smiled softly and then changed his expression to one of seriousness, "On Halloween everything between Harry and I changed indefinitely as to our relationship to the other and how it worked. All of us know Harry's parents died on Halloween of 1981. So, the day that is usually full of laughter and candy eating for most kids and teens is not what it is for Harry at all." Draco said sadly, "Harry and I kept meeting during this time as well, but these 'friendship sessions' were generally the two of us telling stories about our childhoods or of our adventures in the castle at the school whilst doing our homework and then more planning after it if we had time before classes resumed. On Halloween, I was getting anxious to know of Harry's childhood from the time before he had re-entered the magical world and pushed my luck that day to find out about it."

Draco sighed, "I will not tell you what he told me because it is not my place, but I will say that even Harry Potter has a fragile side due to his past and his role in a war he wanted nothing to do with. He just wants the war to end so he can move on now with his life as much as possible. However, I will say this though; Harry was very sensitive after he told me the story, and was ready to bolt from the room when he figured that I must hate him now for being emotionally weak after our friendship had grown so strong in a short few months. On contrary, I was just shocked silent to the story itself and was trying to gather my thoughts together."

"Harry was about to leave when I noticed him and stopped him by calling his name to him. I offered him a hand to his shoulder to show I supported him even though the story was not what I had expected, to put lightly. That one gesture changed everything we knew." Draco said

Blaise and Pansy were more curious now than they ever were but remained silent.

"That one gesture of touch initiated something we never could have imagined before now if we weren't already on good terms and had the knowledge of old pureblood traditions. The touch I gave him in support...it sent a soothing and warm magical energy through us both for comfort and we both knew things were changing because we were destined as soul-mates as an awkward silence fell over us that afternoon." Draco said quietly

Blaise and Pany's eyes widened dramatically

"Draco, it's not that we don't believe you; but are you sure about this? You know what would happen to you if Harry or yourself were captured by Tom or his followers? Never mind the Ministry and all the inquiries about you coercing Harry into this?" Blaise said deadly soft now

Draco stared at Blaise indignantly, "I have never been more certain of anything in my life, Blaise. Harry is the one who soothed my rage when I was about to lose myself to hatred. He is the one who knows my past horrors and can understand them because he too has had similar ones and suffers the same way from them all. He is the one who saved my soul when I was about to sell it to a demon in rage for a blinded attempt at revenge on people who had done no wrong against me or my family."

"I am a veela by heritage, and not only that, but as much as I hate to say this to you both as it is more personal than I care to admit; I am a submissive veela at that. Harry is my dominant and it he who has shielded me from myself these last few months at great risk to himself. I will tell you since you likely wonder exactly how he could do such a thing anyway."

"The Peverell lineage holds the ancient dark elven drow blood inheritance in it as you know. Generally, it manifests at seventeen like all others do. Harry and I have achieved early inheritances for reasons only we can fathom, but we believe it has to do with the war ahead. Harry's also had a more personal reason, but I cannot say what it is at this time. Harry wears a glamour all the time to keep the headmaster from seeing the changes in his physical appearance and risk exposing that he doesn't trust him anymore."

Blaise and Pansy were stunned.

Draco smirked, "Oh, and by the way, we have already bonded so technically there is no way in hell for us to be torn apart now."

Blaise and Pansy stared.

Draco sighed, "On a more serious note, I should warn you that Harry and I will not be returning after break. It's too dangerous for us both with the headmaster scheming to tear us apart or trying to control Harry without anyone's notice. The war has started and we need to prepare. I hope I have not lost my friends now due to the level of severity of secrets I have kept. But please understand that Harry and I were at risk by being there and if the gossip mill got hold of it; there'd be war in the school to find out the truth behind it all." Draco said, "Harry will be at the manor for holidays and it's all been but a secret to keep the dark lord or the headmaster from finding out about it and this is why you weren't originally allowed to be there this year for the break, but Harry knows if you face your parents today; it is likely you'll face being disowned."

"He told me to extend the invitation to you both in case you need safe harbor from harm. I understand I haven't been a good friend these last few months, but it was for Harry and my own safety that I never said anything." Draco told them.

Blaise and Pansy were quiet and seemed too shocked to say much of anything. They barely muttered two words between themselves before they got up and tackled Draco to the ground before they started to mercilessly tickle him.

"Draco, you idiot, you could have been more open to us than this and before now. I understand it was for safety, but still this is extreme." Pansy started on him

Draco was laughing so hard that tears had formed in his eyes though his tone was a cold one as he spoke through them, "Yeah, says the girl who has no idea what Harry has been through in his six years at the school behind the scenes from everyone else. Forgive me if I don't agree there." Draco laughed through his indignation

Pansy and Blaise stopped suddenly and Draco sat up with an awkward gaze as a tense silence fell over them all.

"Harry has truly had it rough, huh?" Blaise asked him

Draco's eyes squeezed shut as his fist clenched tightly while he tried not to think on what Harry told him of his last summer at his muggle relatives home or to see the images of something he rather never think about. Blaise and Pansy were quiet now as they watched Draco be overcome with anger and guilt from his past actions towards his mate.

"Harry has been through so much more pain than any of three of us could ever imagine, even if we did grow up believing the children of death eaters had it bad. If our childhoods were atrocious, then Harry's would have been a nightmare turned into a vicious reality." Draco said quietly

Blaise and Pansy paled to that as they wondered just what had happened to Harry in his life to be that bad.

"Draco, Pansy and I will forgive you for this since we know how hard these few months were on you. However next time, please try to keep us up to par so we can help if necessary." Blaise said softly as Pansy nodded in agreement

Draco nodded lightly, "I'll try my best, but depending on how everything plays out; it may be awhile before we see each other again if at all. I know this is a harsh reality to say like this, but lets be realistic since this is war now and we know we could die for betraying the dark lord at some point if we aren't careful."

The two friends nodded in silence as the words were true enough for all of them. Draco had Harry now to depend on, so now Blaise and Pansy needed to stick together if they wished to see them after the war. The rest of the train ride was spent by the three discussing light topics and dancing around the harder issues they knew would come if trouble brewed faster than they could fight it off whilst playing exploding snap to try not to think of battle yet.


	13. Chapter X: The Battle of Platform 9 34

**Chapter X: The Battle of Platform 9 ¾**

The winter weather outside the train had turned to what most if not the mass majority of the Hogwarts students on-board were feeling inside their bodies. The sky was blue grey and it had appeared to start to rain as they approached the one hour from London mark. The clouds made it so there was even less sunlight outside to see by and the wind was furiously blowing with biting bitterness to the skin if it touched it for too long.

Harry, Ron, and Hermione were currently in deep conversation about something Harry loathed to even broach.

"You guys, can I say something for a moment?" Harry asked

His long-time friends gazed at him as if to say 'of course you can, so get a move on'

"I want you both to know that I am honored to have you at my side. The war before us stands like an enormous black fog cloud and I hope we will all weather it together. If, however, something manages to happen to me…please protect Draco from Tom's wrath as much as possible and for as long as possible." Harry asked them

"I know it is unfair for me to ask this of you since in hindsight; I would not be able to do the same for you because of my role in the war. If I fall, Tom's ultimately won and our world is going to crumble, so protecting Draco would be no easy task. But please protect him if I…" Harry paused and his throat constricted to the thought

Hermione and Ron were silent and shocked Harry even admitted this to them. Hermione's eyes held tears in them before the war truly had started and Ron was too silent at the thought of the loss of his best friend and the of hero in the man of his friend he had become despite his lack of proper knowledge of their world at first."

"Draco is a veela by blood and if I were to die…he would likely try and follow me. I cannot accept him dying because of me this way. The soul-mate bond we have might implicate this, but if it doesn't; then please protect him and see to keeping him alive as long as possible." Harry asked them as he turned to look at them with concern in his eyes.

Ron noticed then that his friend was hiding his fear behind his eyes for the first time in years since the Triwizard Tournament.

"Harry, you have our word, but do us a favor and do your absolute best to come back alive. I haven't seen this fear you have in your eyes in a while and it is unsettling." Ron told him

Hermione was silently crying as Harry remained standing and silent.

"I haven't been the perfect best friend over the years to you. I was jealous of your fame and the money you had; even though I knew deep down you would have given it all away if you could have your family back. I betrayed you several times and have given you many reasons to desert me, but you never did." He said

"I would gladly die for you if it meant we win the war and I'm sure you know this and is maybe a small portion of why you asked us this, but remember this is just not your war; it's all of ours too." He told his friend

Harry remained quiet.

Hermione stood quietly and held tears in her eyes, "You gave me the chance of having a true friendship that I never dreamed I'd have. In the muggle world, I was always picked on because I loved books so much and no one wanted to talk to me because deep down I knew that I pushed them away with my superior attitude at times."

"Ron and you were much the same at first, but after you saved me from the troll in the girls' bathroom; I knew something special formed between the three of us. So, I'm telling you right now Harry James Potter that if you die in the war; I'll make sure that when I find your burial ground…that I'll make sure to either legitimately resurrect you so we can try again or if I die then I'll never let you hear the end of this." Hermione told him in one breath

Ron stared at his girlfriend in shock whilst Harry seemed to smile and be amused now.

"I don't doubt it Hermione." Harry said lightly

The silence between the three of them now was tense.

Harry sighed, "I just have this feeling that Tom used his new allies as a diversion to his true actions. Being that he fully intended to divert the Hogwarts staff so he could get to me on the platform, and if I am right…there is no telling how my magic is going to react."

Hermione and Ron seemed eerily silent again as they waited for Harry to speak again.

"You, Ron, and Draco are the only three who have ever witnessed a close picture of the true extent to my powers and if Tom used the school as a diversion, then I may be forced to expose my potential to the school body, which in turn would inform the headmaster."

"On top of the fact Tom wants my magical powers for himself and if he appears…it would mean I am not only fighting to keep the students alive and Draco alive as my bonded mate, but I would be fighting once more to keep my existence in our world alive so I can in the end, defeat him once and for all. Tom knows I have the status of Lord Peverell as I have mentioned before, and he is angered by it since he believed it should have been granted to him as the only heir to Antioch Peverell, who was the eldest of the three brothers." Harry told them

Hermione and Ron were shocked to the news as they didn't remember Harry saying this to them before, but so much had happened that it was possible he had and they forgot.

"By all rights though, Tom should have been given the status as the Lord of the House of Peverell, but he renounced it when he split his soul into seven pieces to become what he is to have his revenge on the community and Albus for things he could not have controlled if he had tried. Draco and I as you know will not be returning next semester as it is too dangerous, but I have a job for you two if you want it?" Harry asked them carefully

"Harry, you know we would do anything if it were to help you?" Hermione said

Ron nodded in agreement with his girlfriend.

Harry smiled half-hearted, "I know you both would, but this job would be dangerous even from within the school and even more so because I won't be there to protect you both at first if you are caught doing it."

They paused and considered options on what to say.

"We would still help you, but you need to give us the details first." Ron asked

Harry nodded, " Very well then. At some point next term, Albus is going to die in battle on the school grounds and it will be by Severus's hand out of a request made by Albus to make it seem like the Death Eaters have the upper hand in the war and Severus's place as a spy in the inner circle is solidified. I noticed when I was with Albus earlier today that he had tried to touch and break one of Tom's horcruxes, and it made his hand black from the contact. He is living on borrowed time as it is." Harry said quietly

Ron and Hermione didn't know what to say to this as Harry just basically said that the man their world idolized was dying.

"After Albus dies, Severus will become the headmaster as Minerva will reject the position due to grief. Death Eaters are going to be present in the school since Tom believes Severus is on his side. The next year will not be easy and when I said it would be dangerous for me and Draco to be there, I meant it and now you see why."

"What I need you to do, is to try to keep the houses informed of the information before the Death Eaters show up and this is so there will be fewer disobedience stunts from the students that land them in a world of hurt." Harry said darkly, "Keeping in mind that they also cannot expose I told you this beforehand either as that will endanger me and Draco further, and it also put an unnecessary target on Severus that he doesn't deserve as well as you both too."

Ron and Hermione seemed quiet, "Harry, are you sure of all this?" Ron asked him

Harry glanced to the outside weather and then back to his friends, "I give you my word as the last Lord Peverell that what I say is the truth, Ron and the Carrow siblings are going to be at Hogwarts next term with a few others." He said gravely

The two seemed to struggle but found resolve and nodded in determination.

"We will find a way to do it Harry, but you are going to be at the school eventually, aren't you? Or else why would you have us go there to warn them?" Hermione asked with a smile

Harry smiled now, "Ever the astute assumption Hermione, but yes; in time Draco and I will be there to help end their reign on the school and eventually Tom once and for all."

Ron shook his head, "I still can't believe the dark idiot would send the Carrow siblings to the school to reinforce punishments if he knows my family is still there. Ginny is a hothead as we all know, and it is going to be hell to keep her from reacting when she know all this. Those two may never have done anything personally to us, but we know they had a hand in the setup to those who killed Gideon and Fabian Prewett, our Uncles and my mom's brothers. Ginny will likely explode at this." Ron sighed

Harry smirked now, "Well, at least we know Ginny is strong enough to take down both on her own if need be. The problem here is that it cannot be done too early or else Tom would suspect I have made plans early on. Ginny's Bat Bogey Hex is formidable I grant you this, but her true potential comes from her experience as a near sacrifice for Riddle in the chamber before I rescued her. If she could contain her anger until we arrive, then the time would be just right to exact vengeance on them for your family. She knows of the ability I speak of, so mention this to her when you talk to her about this and she should understand." Harry told his friend

Ron shook his head, "Harry honestly, is there anything within Hogwarts you don't know about?"

Harry smirked, "Not really, I just pity the fool who thinks that about me and tries something on me."

Hermione, Ron and Harry then laughed and settled for the last few minutes of the train ride.

* * *

The train pulled into the station exactly on time as Harry estimated. The rain had stopped, but it was still cloudy and overly dark out with the fog that had appeared outside the train's barriers and the winds was still bitter, cold and biting to the skin.

Harry knew this was only the beginning and he those who were to be with him on the front-lines gathered near him as the students waited for his signal to start getting off and make way to the platform exit barrier.

Harry, Draco, Ron, Hermione, Blaise , and Pansy stepped off first and glanced around to see if they saw any immediate dangers. There were none, so Harry signaled the students to start getting off and make their way to the barrier. Parents of the students had been warned by some means to not go to the platform directly or else put themselves in Harry's way and in danger too.

The students seemed shocked that for the first time in a long time, that the students of Slytherin House were helping not just themselves but everyone else there make their escape and most had the feeling it was due to Harry they had done so though they could not explain why. Maybe it was the sight of him and Draco Malfoy standing side by side and watching intently; they didn't know, but they did know the war was changing and fast.

As the students exited and nearly half of them were gone, a blast of energy erupted before Harry and Draco who promptly erected a barrier to protect themselves from the explosion much like the others had done.

"Ha ha ha, bitty Potter has learned some new tricks again, so won't this be fun…" A voice Harry knew all too well sounded

Harry's hands clenched, "Bellatrix Lestrange, let's hope you don't underestimate me this time because as far as I'm concerned, I won our battle last time we met. Your precious master had to come to save your hide so you could escape the ministry aurors."

"What's the matter, do these words anger you? Good, because apparently you don't know how to escape without help." Harry yelled at seemingly no one yet

"Potter, you will regret those words. Your days are numbered, and my master is the only one who can truly kill you, but I won't hold back either." Bellatrix stepped out of the fog with a snarl to her face

"And look, my dearest nephew Draco has either grown a stupid backbone and decided to side with Potter or he is just there to try and put himself in a good light." Bellatrix teased him

Draco's hands then clenched and Harry had to mentally soothe him, "Aunt Bella, you should know that the dark lord killed my father and not the aurors like the newspaper claimed they did and the world believes. I won't ask you why you would side with a man who treats his followers like disposable toys because I won't get a reasonable answer."

"However, I will say that after my father died for a cause he was forced to serve in due to his father and not being able to say no; I had a rude wake-up call, and I will no longer serve a man who parades himself as a pureblood with the intentions of pureblood supremacy when in fact he is half-blood and no better than the people he claims are unworthy." Draco yelled at her

Bellatrix was angry now, "How dare you! You little traitorous bastard, your father would be ashamed at you and of this behavior. He has put his life in serving our master and this is how you repay his memory?"

Draco chuckled darkly, "My father would not be ashamed of me, and you know why Aunt Bella? Because I know for a fact that before he died he was held captive in his own home by those he was supposed to be able to trust and they in turn tortured him. I know for a fact that he told my mother when he left to answer the dark lord's summons that if he didn't return that he wanted me know that he was proud of me and to make the right choices in life. The choices he was never allowed to make because his father made them for him."

Bellatrix snarled, "Well we will see who prevails then."

She drew her wand and spells started flying everywhere. One by one more death eaters poured into the platform as the students who were not fighting were carefully guided to the barrier and to safety.

By the time another hour passed by, Harry and his group had knocked out about half of the group sent to capture them and he could see Bellatrix wearing down and growing fearful internally.

"How does feel Bellatrix to be beaten by seemingly a bunch a of school kids who haven't even finished their schooling yet?" Harry asked her with a teasing and mocking voice

Bellatrix snarled in her throat but no sounds came out.

"What now? Cat got your tongue, Bella?" Harry asked her

Bella's body shook with rage as she tried to control her desire to not try to outright kill him.

"Well too bad then, because now in the name of Lord Peverell and the crimes you have committed against me and my family I am sentencing you to death and your soul with feel the burn of the thousand age fire before you are allowed to be forgiven." Harry told her as all turned to him.

Harry pointed his wand at her, "Avada Kedavra."

The eerie green light shot out and struck her directly as she fell dead to the ground. There was a silence that hung over the student now as death eaters watched in horror that Potter actually killed Bellatrix.

Then clapping was heard in the distance.

"Bravo Harry, a fine display though it is such a pity you won't join me. Such raw potential and power is a waste like that." Tom said

Harry stood slowly again and tall, "Tom, so you were watching. I knew you were there, but I didn't say anything." Harry said

Tom didn't walk over but more like hovered over as his powers gathered.

"You know Harry, we are much alike in this community we live in. I know you are aware of the similarities between us and the fact is they are true enough. I grew up in a place that despised my existence and had no idea I was a wizard until Albus Dumbledore came to explain it to me. Now at this time, you can be sure I was confused."

The audience around the two had stopped fighting each other and was now watching Harry and Riddle with baited breath as they continued to battle it out with verbal spars for the moment.

"I had never believed I was a wizard in the slightest except for the fact that odd things just seemed to happen to me and I could not explain them no matter how hard I tried to." Tom said to him

"Does this sound familiar Harry because I am sure it does?" Tom sneered at him

Harry's body stood defiant but internally he was a mess.

"Then when I entered the school, I was nearly almost immediately recognized for my powers. I was but a first year, however, if given enough time and material to study with…I could do a sixth year spell easily."

"It made me an oddity to nature to be so gifted, and I was treated more as pariah than a human being. People whispered about me and were always suspicious about me. They never considered perhaps that I was once human too and had feelings, or perhaps if they had I would not be where we are now?" Tom said, "This fact was only worsened due to that I was in Slytherin where all other houses kept a distance from and regarded with caution and even more so when they learned I was Salazar's heir through Albus himself."

"You know these pains Harry. You were born into a pureblood lineage and you are pureblood despite most belive your mother was mugle-born when she was not. You are the last heir to the Potter clan and of Godric Gryffindor, and from birth you were the one prophesized to be able to end this war and to defeat me. Your parents gave their lives to me in battle so you would live and thus it gave you a protection against me I never expected at first though we both know that the event from the Triwizard has since then rectified the matter." Tom told everyone coldly

"You were placed in the care of your muggle relatives; relatives who hated you for your abilities and their jealousy of having something they never would have. Relatives who would rather try to get rid of your powers than to cherish them and to encourage you to develop them so you could protect them if need be and the home you were placed into to be reared had blood wards on it so I could not touch you nor could my followers over the years. Those wards may have kept me and mine out, but tell me Harry; did that stop your relatives from fearing you and your powers without cause? Did that stop them from trying to keep you from your heritage when it was all in vain?"

"I suppose not, but yet you still desire to see people for the good in them no matter how they have treated you in kind because they don't understand and they fear the power of others that are greater than their own. You only have to look around you to fully understand what I meant."

"The students you go to school with were and are still much like the ones I attended school with. They are fickle and tend to believe the first thing they are told about a person without giving them a chance to prove otherwise. How many times now has the daily prophet paper said or reported something of you in unfavorable light and how many times has the student body turned against you though you fought for them to protect them from me every year there regardless they were unaware of it or refused to acknowledge it." Tom told him

Harry's body started shaking as he got very angry, "Perhap you are right and they have done these things against me Tom, but it would be stupid to believe they all did it because they all had truly believed it for themselves. People have power in words to influence and persuade others towards something they know isn't true or right, and I know that you know this."

"People who inherit large amounts of power from the old lineages are naturally treated with an air of suspicion because most people don't want to be put under that power and to subjugated by it. They watch us and judge us to make sure if pressured that we won't use our powers in an abusive way. You cannot honestly believe that people who have less power are not already somewhat afraid or intimidated by those with more, because by human nature it is natural for them to be so even if only somewhat. You are a prime example of this with the way you wield your dark magic over our community vlike a spreading plague." Harry told him

Tom smirked, "So I am, but then again so are you. Even though our community likely has no idea as to your true potential as a wizard of high powers, I do as I share an indirect familial tie with you as we both are related to two different branch of the Peverell clan. Myself from Antioch and he who held the Elder wand in his hands for centuries before it was lost to time through countless battles fought. You are related to Ignotus and the one who holds the spirit of death's own cloak of invisibility that Ignotus used to shield his family from his two other brothers wrath's."

"I understand the many powers of the Peverell clan as I am sure you do as well now. You have grown powerful quickly due to this heritage, I can see it plainly in your magical aura as much as I am sure that you can read my own and know exactly how powerful of an opponent I truly am to you. The powers will never let you lead a normal life Harry, for in the end you will either end up working with these powers to try and help our world with their stinging gaze always on your back, become corrupt and do what I am doing now, or at worst commit suicide due to the pressure of the people and not being able to stand it any longer."

Harry nodded, "I know that I may never lead the most perfect life due to my powers Tom, but that doesn't excuse the fact that I could abuse them more because of it just to prove a point in our society's faults and flaws. You are trying to make me doubt myself and my goals. I tire of listening to you. I honestly think you like to hear yourself talk because every time we meet, you always have this little speech of yours planned." Harry gloated as the people around them gasped since it was unheard of for anyone to talk back to the dark lord in such a way.

Tom's eyes blazed, "You are going to regret that."

Harry smirked, "That's just what Bellatrix said to me and look what happened to her now? She's dead."

Then the true battle began after Tom shouted something about having no mercy to those who fought and spells that flew had increased in lethality by two times than before.

Most of the students who fought had to rely on the Slytherin unit to counter as they had no knowledge of dark arts. Ron and Hermione were fine though, as odd as it looked to others because Harry had taught them somewhat of what to expect and how to counter it.

Riddle's eyes blazed with an angry fire as he prepare his final attack, and if it didn't work; he had to escape as his reserves were running out now. Contrary to Harry's opinion, he had battled Albus on the school grounds some before he made it here and that had taxed his reserves some.

His wand aimed at Harry and he uttered the killing curse one last time and it missed by a narrow margin. Riddle's breathing was heavy and he tried to gather it back to attack again.

"Not so powerful looking now are you Riddle?" Harry asked, "The advantage of knowing your limits."

"Now I will show you why I was chosen as the heir to the Peverell lineage and not you." Harry said as he seemingly lifted into the air and glided around as Tom had done before.

Harry's glamours fell away to reveal his elven heritage bestowed upon him by the first Lord Peverell. His hair blew behind him as his powers gathered and his eyes glowed brightly as ever whilst his hands started to glow black with power and the cold winter wind whipped around him and Tom fiercely.

Riddle's eyes had widened in startled shock to the power Harry commanded and was calling to him. He knew he needed to apparate and fast so he tried to regain his breath as quickly as possible so he could concentrate on leaving. All eyes had now turned to Harry and Riddle again to see the sight before them. Riddle on the ground and panting for breath whilst Harry and his elven appearance hovered high in the air and was glowing black with the wintry wind blowing dangerously around with Harry's magic and making it look like a big storm was about to be summoned there as Harry himself was actually summoning his powers to call upon a deity to aid his efforts there.

"Usstan lar pholor dos, quortek-elggs, quar'valsharess d' sarn'elggar." Harry called out as Riddle's eyes held fear now as to how much power Harry truly was capable of mastering if he could summon the drow goddess of punishment known as the soul-destroyer to aid him right now.

"I'd love to stay and see who'd win this, but I know when I've lost the round." Riddle said hatefully, "But mark my words Potter, your days are numbered no matter how powerful you've become without everyone else noticing. This is the curse of the Peverell blood, as one of us will die in the end and the one left behind then shapes the new community that comes from it."

He then apparated out of sight and Harry sighed and cancelled the summoning spell he started as he floated to the ground again and his power receded slightly. The death eaters soon followed the example of their master and fled the scene as to not wanting to provoke Harry's ire any more than it was already now.

Draco came over to Harry with a slight smile that told him they had won this time. Harry smiled back and looked to those who had aided their plight and silently thanked them all with a grateful nod of his head. Cheers were heard throughout the platform as he walked towards everyone and accepted the fact that he was now being seen in a new way.

Harry walked to those who remained and most were relatively unhurt, so now that his appearance was exposed and his powers somewhat unveiled to them all, he felt no need to hide it any longer. Either his true appearance or his new powers gifted to him that he had mastered in a short time. Those with minor injuries he healed himself as he thanked them for their aid that day. Most seemed to understand now why Harry had been chosen to battle Riddle to the end and felt they needed to learn to stand on their own now as Harry was in far more danger than they had realized.

His fellow classmates who stood there and watched were realizing for the first time that this war was real and it wasn't a joke. Harry had been right and they needed to prepare themselves if they expected to survive.

Seamus and Dean had pushed down both their pride and guilt and apologized to him for their past actions, which Harry accepted with a smile. Lavender and Parvati apologized to him for not believing him when they should knew the dark lord better than the rest of them and they now saw they needed to admit war was coming and they needed to toughen up. They could not always rely on Harry to swoop in save the day; it was childish and stupid to think he could. Harry was distantly related to Riddle as Ignotus Peverell was his ancestor much like Antioch was Riddle's as they had all heard, and so they were both powerful enough to combat each other without too much to fear.

Harry had just finished the last healing he had to do on the platform when heard crying to his left side and looked to where he heard it. One of the Slytherin sixth year girls named Nadia Landcaster sat on the ground and was slumped over in tears. Her hand held onto the body of a Ravenclaw boy who had to be in his second or perhaps first year. He was apparently dead by first glance.

Harry walked calmly over to her and placed his hand to her shoulder as he gazed at the boy's body. She looked up and gave a slight smile though he knew she had done it for him to try and reassure him she was alright when she was not okay.

"This is your brother is it not?" Harry asked her questioningly

The crowd watched interested as to what he would say to her to try and comfort her.

She nodded, " Yes, this is Rowan. He just started Hogwarts this year and must have gotten hit with one of the stray killing curses that missed its intended target during the battle. While I am glad they did not get hit, I wish my brother hadn't either or else he'd still be here with me."

Harry knelt beside her, "I hate to expose powers such as these as it will only create more rumors about me and my family lineage, but the time for secrets is past and now everyone will understand why only I can kill Riddle in the end. Nadia, your brother actually isn't dead. His soul is trapped in between life and death in a realm state of limbo. I can bring his soul back to him and he will live, but keep in mind he may not remember what happened to him. If so, you need to be honest with him or else resentment may form between you two when he does find out." Harry told her

Her eyes held wonder in them, "How can you tell that this is true?"

Harry smiled, " Riddle and I both can read magical auras and so this is partially how I could tell. The magical residue in his aura was strange looking and off at best. Also, the killing curse may have been created for war in ancient times but it has had many purposes throughout the centuries other than in wars. There are many things we still are discovering about spells created by ancient wizards that lived long before us to this very day."

"The killing curse has a unique propensity for surprise, if you study its history. Your brother must have had a strong spirit to survive or else he would be dead and I would not be able to help him, but he isn't and that's what matters now."

"I know this all too well as the only person to first survive it. The killing curse works in a way that if your spirit is too weak, the spell overwhelms it which causes the body to shut down and therefore die. Now, if perhaps the person has a strong spirit and I mean a truly and genuinely strong one, their soul will try and combat it and so the soul gets trapped in limbo."

"Most people will cry about not wishing to die and this resigns them to the fate of death because they know they truly are not capable of putting away their fears in the face of danger. They worry constantly about if they will make it through the battle. Your brother knew you were fighting with me out there and he wanted you to come home alive. When he was hit with the stray curse, he kept you in mind and his soul fought for you, Nadia. Death was the last thing on his mind." Harry said softly

Nadia softly smiled as she started to break and cry again.

"In my case, I was an infant whose mother was trying vainly to protect it with no hope of survival. My infant-self had realized that the green light hurt my mom internally and so this man who hurt her would hurt me too. Though I was too young to understand this at the time, my body language made it clear to Riddle that when he pointed his wand at me at one year old; I wasn't afraid of him and my eyes bored into his."

"I remember when Riddle looked at me and said it was a waste to kill me then, and then he half-pondered about taking me and raising me as his own. I often wonder where I'dd be at if he had done that. But I do know its of no use to think much on it as he did try to kill in the end and it didn't work."

"So, the killing curse rebounded on him. Now, your brother will have to live the same fate of surviving it and likely be on Tom's hit list for it even if Riddle was not the one who originally cast the spell." Harry said

Harry placed his hand over Nadia's brother's face and chanted a strain of drow. The crowd felt the energy flowing from the hand and waited to see what would happen. When Harry stopped chanting, he waited a moment and the boy woke and stirred. He saw Nadia there and her tears were obvious as she had been crying for him whilst she hugged her brother. Harry smiled and stood when he noticed him and that he was walking off without anything being said.

"Harry." The boy called

Harry turned to him slowly.

"Why? Why would you do that? To expose a power you commanded like that to everyone here after the display with Riddle before he fled the field? It would have been easier to have said I was dead and to give Nadia comfort with false words, so why did you save me and expose yourself further?" He asked him as Nadia looked up to her brother and then to Harry for an answer

Harry smiled, " That's easy Rowan, it was because it was the right thing to do. Lying is easy to do but ultimately it has consequences when you go too far and risk exposing yourself and your lie. I could save you and took no hesitation in doing so because your sister helped fight with me and now she was the one suffering unintentionally from someone else's careless actions. Had I lied, your sister and family likely would hate me when they found out the truth even if that's what you wanted. For me to remain safe and let them believe you had died."

"It doesn't matter what house we are all in because this war is going to get worse and it will affect all of us in some ways. Slytherin has united under my banner as allies to Lord Peverell and I trust they are true to their words as their actions today proved it when many were shield from death eater attacks and most of those who were not fighting made it to safety. Those who did not make it to the barrier were protected as best as possible, since you were the only one who was hit in such a way."

"Riddle will stop at nothing to get to me and he doesn't care how many innocent lives are taken in the process. The war is going to have casualities no doubt, so if I could save one or more, then why would I lie instead and not do this? Sure, I exposed myself to other and potentially risk myself in the future, but without taking risks one cannot know their boundaries either. You should not do this to where you are endangered, but then again; I have always been in danger, so I suppose I know no other way."

"That and Riddle and I know the other's abilities too well as relatives from distant branches to the same clan. He could likely already guess some of these new abilities as it is." Harry told him gently

The boy nodded, "Well, thank you then for saving me."

The crowd around them seemed to take in the words before they seemed to acknowledge what he said.

"Now, I believe we must get to the outside world or else the parents left there are likely wondering if their children are dead or not?" Harry reminded them all

"Thank you for your help everyone, and have a good holiday." Harry said as he walked to the barrier.

Draco and Harry's friends watched in shock as he had transformed from a seemingly normal school kid to war trained veteran to a wise hero in the span of a few minutes before them.

Ron turned to Draco, "Malfoy, remind me to never ever get Harry pissed off at me ever again. I don't want a spirit of punishment to suddenly come after me if he gets too mad at me."

Draco smirked at the redhead, "Well Ron, then I think you should be more careful with what you say from now on, huh?" Draco started as the others there stared at the group as if to say, 'when did you get along with Draco?'

Draco trailed after Harry to see if he needed any help whilst he left Ron and Hermione to stew in the commotion Ron had brought upon them by being so familiar with him as if they were friends. They were somewhat, but the rest of the school didn't know that.

Hermione smiled to her very unobservant boyfriend as Ron appeared confused now, "What was that about?" He asked her

The bushy haired friend of the group just laughed loudly now as she walked off after Draco to see if Harry was alright as Ron followed after with even more confusion now than before.


	14. Chapter XI: A Trip to Number Four

**Chapter XI: _A Trip to Number Four_**

After the last moments of the aftermath from the battle on the train station platform, Harry and Draco seemingly vanished out of sight to another location. Hermione and Ron tried to find them to see if they needed any help, but to their dismay; the two had eluded everyone's notice and disappeared to keep attention off of them both and probably without realizing that it would only bring more anyways.

"Hermione, don't worry about them. I'm sure they're fine, and I bet in less than a week's time we will be at the burrow and receiving a letter of some kind from them to let us know how they are doing and where they are at if possible." Ron told her gently

Hermione bit her lip in indecision before she shook her head at herself and then smiled.

"I guess you're right Ron. I suppose it's natural to worry about your friends, but worrying about Harry always ends up being for nothing even if he does get slightly injured. Draco will see to him now, I suppose, and so there is no reason to worry is there?" She said

Ron smiled and nodded as he and Hermione went through the barrier to find his mother and father. He had lots of explaining to do with them about Harry now and if he knew his mother; she'd give him an earful first.

* * *

Harry and Draco had vanished to settle matters with his relatives at Number Four and the arrangements made prior to the holidays.

"Draco, it is important for you to try and not lose your temper at them no matter how badly they insult me. They are muggles, after all, and so the family there has no understanding of our culture or our world except maybe for Aunt Petunia as my mother was her adoptive sister. They never wanted me and so most of the household, if not all of it at times, made no effort to learn either." Harry said

Draco was silent though he internally wanted to curse Harry's relatives to hell and back for what they put him through even if he nodded in acceptance to the idea.

As they approached Number Four, an air of somber silence fell over the area and Harry knew this was not going to be pleasant. He raised his hand and knocked on the door as they waited for someone to answer.

It turned out to Dudley, who had a fearful look to his eyes now at seeing him there.

"Hello Dudley, it's nice to see you again though I wish it were under more pleasant circumstances. I need to talk with Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon, and it is rather important so I suggest you don't keep us waiting. The sooner I relay my message the sooner the two of us will leave." Harry told him

Dudley seemed confused momentarily, "You mean you don't know? After that strange man said you did?" He asked

Harry's expression hardened then and Draco knew something bad had occurred here after he left for school.

"I don't what? What happened here?" Harry demanded

Dudley seemed to make up his mind, "I should let my mother tell you as she has more of an understanding to this than I do, so come in but please be careful as to what you say as she might break down."

Harry then stood straight again, "Vey well."

They entered the house and removed their cloaks. The house was dirtier than Harry remembered his aunt ever letting the house get to; but then again, she also used him as her house-elf so it was not much of a surprise. His and Draco's robes were that of high nobility and Dudley could easily tell he had money now if he wanted to. His presence demanded respect but gave no feeling of ill towards the residents there yet, so they had no reasoning to be afraid.

Aunt Petunia was in the kitchen and apparently trying to make tea though her hands were shaking.

"Aunt Petunia." Harry called softly

She turned slowly to look at him and her eyes filled with tears as she saw the strength in the child of her sister she had never had the courage to stand up for in her own home.

"Harry." She said

"Dudley said some strange man was here before and after I left for school this year. What happened here?" He asked

She sighed as tears formed, "You know as well as I that Vernon never believed in all those horrendous stories of a group called Death Eaters. He never believed you actually stopped their master as an infant."

"He was against anything magical but for reasons I assumed stemmed from something after the first war and my sister died for you."

Harry sat down, "Vernon is not here now, so is he at work?"

Petunia shook her head, "Harry, those strange men came here after you inherited your birthright and demanded we hand you over to them. You had already gone and so we had nothing to give them. Vernon yelled at them to get out but they in turn realized you were not here and assumed we had sent you to safety with others."

"Vernon started fighting them believing they were just some thug or rogue wizards that had something against you and wanted whatever it was you had. Dudley and I ran to the Polkiss's house for shelter. When we came back after it had quieted, Vernon was dead." She said quietly

Harry's head bowed and his fist clenched as he shook with anger, "But why would do this if all he ever did was treat me as if I was made as glass and a nobody not worth mentioning."

Petunia shrugged her shoulders, "I don't know Harry, but I think in his last fight with those men he realized that the war we told of was real and began to see why we as muggles depend on the cooperation of our community and yours for our own safety."

"He may have hated you, but Harry, I never did. Yes, I understand that I treated you horribly and there is no excuses for my actions; but in all honesty, what could I have done against Vernon's brute strength?" She asked him

"There were times where I wanted to hold you and reassure. Times when you were badly hurt and I wanted to heal you. Times where I knew you were troubled and needed an ear to listen and I wanted to be the one who listened to those troubles, however, Vernon was always watching and there was no way I would jeopardize you to him."

Harry shook his head, "So your answer for neglecting me all these years is that you did it to spare me even more pain? Get real, Aunt Petunia because we both know that this is a poor excuse."

Petunia slumped, "I know that, but the wards Albus put on the house for your safety after Lily sacrificed herself for you prevented us from moving even if I desired to take both you and Dudley away from his abuse."

Harry looked up, "You knew of the wards?"

Petunia eyed him, "Of course I did. Albus left you here on our doorstep in November with a blanket and warming charm after all. It would be extremely rude to ask us to raise you if he hadn't left some kind of note behind making us aware of the circumstances."

Harry didn't know what to say now.

"So Harry, you have not introduced me to your friend who is with you?" She said lightly, "Seems rather rude, if you want my opinion on that matter."

Harry smiled slightly, "I suppose it is. This is not my friend however, this is my…bonded mate Draco Malfoy."

Petunia's eyes widened in shock.

"I see. How lovely to meet you Draco, though I wish our family was not so strained at this time." She said

Draco shook her hand gently.

Harry turned to her, "Aunt Petunia, I am sorry about Uncle Vernon. I honestly had no idea what had happened here, but I came here because I need a favor from you if you wish to grant it."

Petunia seemed intrigued, "Go on."

"I am uncertain of exactly how much you know of wizarding politics in our society from here, but I am Lord Peverell now and as such I have many matters that need dealt with at this time even when the war has started again. Least of all, I must end our war that is raging again."

"You know full well the danger I am in because of your sister and because of her sacrifice for me alone sixteen years ago. I am grateful for my mother's actions, but this does not mean I don't wish my family was still here at times either. So I assume you know how precarious this matter is when I said the war is once again active." He said

She nodded her head in understanding.

"I am supposed to be staying here for the holidays by order of Albus Dumbledore, but I cannot do so as there is much I need to attend to elsewhere. However, I cannot leave here without creating a body clone of myself to leave behind and this of itself is risky if a certain few members of the order are watching here along with Death Eaters as well since the events that have occurred recently."

"What I want is for you to 'host' this sentient clone I will make in your home and to treat it as if it was me and not a fake. Meanwhile, I will be at Malfoy Manor for the duration of the holidays when not anywhere else."

Petunia thought it over, "Okay, but if those creeps show up…can the clone act in your stead?"

"No, but if they do appear, the clone will have a sensory alarm connected to my magic. If it goes off, I will be alerted to their presence." He said

"If number four is demolished after I save you then I will offer you a place to stay until you both either wish to leave to find one yourselves or you feel as if you need to move on and that it is time to go."

"For now I can put stronger wards on the home that amplify the blood wards, but without alerting my watchers; there is little more I could do in this way." Harry said

"I see." Petunia said solemnly, "I agree then to your request. However, may I ask a question of you Harry?"

He nodded as he prepared to strengthen the wards.

"I was wondering why you would go out of your way to help us even though we have treated you so badly in the past. You have every right to be angry and vengeful towards us, and I am certain you have the power to kill us if you desired to. So, why?" She asked

Harry sighed, "You're right, I am angry for the years you could have convinced Vernon to try and understand and the years wasted where you could have been like a second mom to me, but it was not meant to be."

"I do have the power to kill you for sure, and the anger of the treatment I suffered in this house is and should be more than enough to want to do it, true. However, you are still my last two remaining living relatives in this world, adopted or not, and whilst my mother was not your true blood sister; she still considered you as such. It is out of respect for my mother who gave her life for my own that I can see why killing out of anger destroys ones soul."

"If I were to kill you and Dudley for things that happened in the past and I had no control over then I would set myself on the same path our resident dark lord is on too. He killed his father who abandoned his mother after she told him she was a witch. His mother had used love potions to ensnare him and ultimately he impregnated her under the influence of the potions."

"His mother also had let go of the potion's hold over him when she found out, and for whatever reasoning I can only guess. He left her to fend on her own because she had used him to get what she wanted and did care for his thoughts or feelings in the matter. She died giving birth to the one who is now terrorizing our world." Harry said to her with a sharp eye

Petunia and Dudley were strangely silent.

Petunia then broke down again, "I don't know what I have done to deserve this Harry, but I want you to know that Lily would be so proud of you and the man you have become. I never doubted you wouldn't, but there were times when I knew you were hurting and I thought something bad was to happen."

"Don't thank me until the war is over. The dark lord and I are both related distantly through two different branches of the Peverell clan. It is I who was said to be able to defeat him, and as many time as I faced him now; it has only ever ended in a draw. The war will be long and I doubt we will see each other much after this." Harry said

Petunia smiled in her tears, "That's alright, because just by seeing you here makes me know you will win." She said softly

Dudley was curious, "So, this dark lord guy is real, huh?"

Harry smirked, "Yeah he is and a real pain in my arse too."

Petunia gasped as Dudley smiled, "So how many times have you fought now?"

Harry pondered momentarily as he seemed to think as the magic his hands started to glow bright orange, "Let's see now, I'd say at least eight or nine times now, why?"

Draco seemed rather startled by that news as he could see six or seven, but not eight of nine.

Dudley seemed fascinated by all this magical talk and of fight for life or death. So childish still, Harry thought to himself.

"So do you wizards only do combat with wands?" He asked

Draco interrupted, "I'll answer that one since you need to concentrate now Harry."

Harry just barely inclined his head in acknowledgement.

"We use wands for the most part, yes. However, we do tend to learn hand-to-hand combat in time or to use things like swords and daggers imbued with our magical powers. First we learn the basic handling of the weapon before magical aspects can be applied as it is highly dangerous and it can be fatal if you don't know what you are doing."

Dudley nodded, "I see. So magical training is very complicated then, huh. It seems like it would be difficult."

Draco smiled, "Well, that's why we go to school to train for seven years. We start at lower class spells early on and then work our way up to higher and more advanced ones. The loophole here is that even schools don't teach children magical warfare. Harry, myself and our friends have either learned on our own because we were in danger already or some of us learn things we probably shouldn't have with tutors at home."

"Many of the children whose parents are death eaters hire tutors in advanced studies of different magical areas to teach their children outside school barriers, so when war comes they are prepared for the worst."

Dudley seemed to think, "So how does one practice this knowledge without getting caught all the time?"

Harry smirked at that one and Draco shook his head at his mate, "When your school is a giant castle full of unused areas that the professors have long forgotten about you tend to not get caught."

"Unless of course…" Draco smirked, "Your name is Harry James Potter and he can get away with just about anything there. Mainly because the castle's sentient spirit likes him and his actions he has done there already as services to the school."

Harry's eyebrow raised to that as he chanted softly.

Dudley also raised a brow as Petunia looked curious.

"Harry has been destined to defeat the dark lord since birth, so his life has always been surrounded by mysterious creatures, odd happenings and brushes with death even within Hogwarts castle. Far more than both he and I like, I believe."

"So, when you are Harry and something bad happens and he then saves the day; the rest of school knows he should have been expelled for his stunts, but he only gets house points taken and perhaps a detention with Professor Snape if he is really unlucky." Draco smirked

Harry smirked again.

"So is it true he once battle a Basilisk that was seventy feet long." Dudley asked him

Draco smiled and nodded affirmative.

Harry then stood up, "Yes, it is true that I did battle that fiend but I nearly died in the process too. If the Headmaster's phoenix had not come, I would have been a snake's lunch." Harry smirked directly at Draco who shivered in response.

Dudley seemed to think as Petunia now noticed something odd between Draco and Harry going on.

"By the way Dudley, how exactly did you find out about that incident?" Harry asked him

Dudley reddened in the face, "I went into your room after dad died and because I was angry at you. I thought those people killed him because we didn't have you and they thought we knew where you were when we didn't. I wanted closure, and so I went to your room and happened upon a certain loose floorboard…" Dudley eyed him

Harry stared now at his cousin.

"I don't blame you for never revealing the loose floorboard to us, or else you might have starved to death here. In this case though, there was a certain notebook inside and my curiosity got the better of despite my anger, so I read through it."

"I see." Harry said

Draco looked from Harry to his cousin and back. Something had just been recognized between them.

"Dudley, do me a favor?" Harry asked him

His cousin glanced to him

"I want you to straighten out your life. Being healthy is fine and all, but those thugs you hang out with…you call them your friends, but for some reason I doubt it. If the war ever reaches this far, could you guarantee they'd help you fight instead of run to save themselves?"

"They do not understand my world in the slightest like you do now, and to reveal it to them would be catastrophic. I think it's time to evaluate your life to see where it is going and if you walk this path if you would be happy doing it."

"I did not save your sorry arse from dementors in my fifth year and in doing so use magic outside school to do so. I went to the wizarding court for that you know, so I don't want my efforts wasted." Harry said

Dudley smiled, "I think you're right."

Harry turned to his aunt as Dudley walked off slowly, "Keep an eye on him and his behavior. He is vulnerable to mind possession since he is my relative. I have the clone upstairs already and it looks as though he is attempting to read a book but is rather flustered." Harry told her

Petunia smiled, "Thank you for what you've done, Harry. I hope we will get the chance to resolve our past differences, even if they will never be perfect."

Harry nodded as he and Draco stood and went to the door. They grabbed their cloaks and apparated out together. Petunia stood there not knowing what to think but was grateful for the visit nonetheless.

When she reappeared in the kitchen, she gasped at the sight she saw on the table. There sat a pile of money with a note. The pile must have at least been 1,000 euros, and so she picked up the note.

_Aunt Petunia,_

_I know that the loss of Vernon must have hit you hard financially even if he wasn't the best husband, and even though I know you'd refuse if you could; you won't this time. We may never be like true family or perhaps see each other again due to the war, but you are still my mother's adoptive sister and my aunt. Family take care of their own, and so here is something to help you and Dudley get back on your feet._

_There is about 1000 euros there, and so I hope you use this wisely. Have a happy holiday and a good new year._

_Harry_

Petunia smiled as her eyes watered with tears and she whispered a quiet 'thank you, Harry' to the air of silence in the house.

Many miles away two young men were just walking up the drive of Malfoy Manor in the heavy snow pouring from the sky when the dark-haired one looked up and smiled at seemingly nothing before he caught up to his blonde mate and went inside the home to warm up.


	15. Chapter XII: Arrival at Malfoy Manor

**Chapter XII: _Arrival at Malfoy Manor_**

Harry and Draco arrived at the residence of the Malfoy home exactly on time as presumed, but this was mainly due to the circumstances surrounding the Dursley household currently. Harry knew that if Vernon had still been alive and living there, that unfortunately, the plan would not have gone as smoothly as he wanted it to.

He was a bit at a loss when he learned Vernon was dead, as he had never truly wished it on him, but all the same Harry felt guilty in his pleasure that he was gone and because he would not have to deal with his abuse any longer. He did not want Aunt Petunia to feel more hurt than she already was and Vernon was her husband whether he liked it or not.

"Harry, are you alright?" Draco asked softly

Harry sighed, "Yes, I suppose I am unless it is normal to feel pleasure in the death of one's family members and then to feel guilty over it too."

"Vernon loathed my very existence, and he did everything to ensure everyone else in our neighborhood did too. He hated me, and through me he hated everything of our world as well and I knew it as he never hid the fact from me at all, but yet in his last fight for his life and that of his family; he protected me for whatever reasoning he had to do so despite he loathed me. I am glad I do not need to endure his abuse any longer, but at the same time I feel guilty in the pleasure over his death because he was still my uncle and so technically I should be and grieving when really all I feel is a blank indifference to this."

Harry went silent in thought as Draco laid a hand to his mate's shoulder in comfort.

"Harry, I understand in some ways how you feel although it is definitely not the same scenario as the one you have. Many of the children of the death eaters who never wanted to be in the war resented their parents' involvement. They loved them as they brought life to them and loved them as they grew older, but as they aged; we all realized even if we were loved that to most of our parents...they had us because we were also tools created for being used as the next generation of our lord's disposable soldiers."

"Few of us had childhoods where we were protected from our lord's wrath if he was angry and those who didn't; they suffered more than the others. We loved them, our parents, but we also hated they sold their soul to a demon who would use us a non-entities like slaves he could in time replace with another so easily." Draco told him quietly

Harry nodded, "Yes, I see what you mean."

"Come, my mother is probably about to die of excitement in waiting to meet you." Draco drawled at him now with a lazy smirk

"Well then, we should do our best to avoid that, shouldn't we? Considering the favor we are going to be asking of her today as well?" Harry drawled back

* * *

As they both entered the foyer, a house-elf appeared promptly to take their coats and shrunken down luggage before vanishing again and telling them where they would find Mistress Malfoy.

Narcissa was located inside of what was once Lucius's study and seemingly pouring over a book containing medical magic knowledge. Draco cleared his throat loudly to garner her attention as when they had knocked…she didn't even hear it to answer them.

At the noise Narcissa looked up and saw her son and Harry side by side. Her eyes watered slightly before she collected herself again quickly.

"Draco, welcome home darling. How was the term?" She asked

"It was eventful as you well know, mother." Draco drawled to her

Her eyebrows rose to this sentiment, "Yes, well I can see how you would say that."

"Mother, this is Harry Potter as you know and he now holds the title of Lord Peverell by birthright." Draco said lightly

Narcissa stood and walked over before him and curtsied low, "It is a blessing and pleasure to host you in our home. I thank you for looking out for Draco at the school when others would have not been so kind given our position with the dark lord at the timing of things." She said

Harry nodded with a bright smile as he kissed her hand in greeting, "It was my pleasure Lady Malfoy, though I wish it had to have been under more pleasant times." Harry said

Narcissa eyed Harry slightly, "You know of the pureblood etiquette even when not having been raised with it?"

Harry sighed, "There is much I need to talk to you of Lady Malfoy and I would prefer not to have to repeat this more than necessary."

"Come then and sit with me and we shall talk." She said soft

* * *

The atmosphere in the study had increased in its intensity as the next hour drew to a close and as Harry's story had ended. Narcissa was stunned silent and in a seemingly great contemplative mood whilst Draco fidgeted in his seat slightly as his mother had yet to say anything.

Narcissa finally seemed to gather her thoughts, "Well, it certainly makes more sense now." She whispered to herself

"What does, mother?" Draco asked sharply as he heard just fine

Narcissa turned to them, "Draco, you know as well as I do that veela inheritances rarely occur early. Almost to the point where it is unheard of now, and last summer there was a period of time where you were in lots of pain, do you remember that?" She asked him

Draco nodded his head in slight understanding but also confusion as Harry flinched behind his mate at the recognition of her words.

"It makes sense that if Harry had early inheritance to his Peverell lineage and the dark elven blood within it manifested, which obviously it has, and he was wounded on top of this at the time; that because you were his soul-mate that during the change he was undergoing that you were feeling some level of Harry's pain through the bond even though it was not even recognized yet. It is remarkable as generally a bond such as this must be recognized for this to even occur, but Harry is special in a way that he is needed to save us and so maybe he was blessed by the drow goddess before he was ever born and she knew he would need this and granted it. We may never fully know."

"However, Harry's pain level was so great during his change that your body Draco knew it would not last if you tried to endure it in a more human genetic frame, and so his pain caused a catalyst reaction which started your veela inheritance early and so you would be alive." She said

Draco was silent as was Harry to this as both knew the truth in her words.

"Lady Malfoy, I am sorry if I have impeded on the natural course of things. I know that this circumstance is not exactly normal or even ideal for the times we are living in right now, but it must have happened for a reason we cannot totally piece together yet." Harry said

"I admit that I was wounded when the change started and I also admit that I was bleeding and nearly dead when my inheritance struck. The old magic healed these grievous wounds I had and when it was done I am the person you see before you now. I cannot change it and you know you can't either, but I believe that everything in our world happens for a reason."

Narcissa looked at Harry now with a fierce look, "If everything happens for a reason Lord Peverell, then why did my husband and my mate have to die for this to occur?" She yelled at him

Harry bowed his head, "I understand your sadness and anger at me for that even though I could not have controlled it. I was and still am the one who the dark lord wants to kill first and foremost and so he tried to obtain one of three full prophecies written of us through time. Lucius was there during the time me and my friends went to the department of mysteries to retrieve it unaware of the dark lord's ulterior motive at the time."

"Your husband knew things of the ministry no one else could get single-handed and this alone was why Tom Riddle wanted the Malfoy clan on his side through the years. He knew through his brief friendship with Draco's grandfather Abraxas that he could get information no one else had as long as he was on his side."

Harry had stood by now and was walking the length of the room as Narcissa watched him carefully with her eyes as though she was calculating and adding him up to what she believed was true.

"I do not claim to know your husband well and add to the fact that he was always either trying to kill me or make me indisposed never helped whenever we crossed paths. However, if there is one thing that I know for certain that Lucius valued above all else; it was the safety of his family. Of you and Draco from his Master's wrath and of his other death eater's wraths through Tom himself."

"His death was not an accident as we showed you and it was not in vain either. It brought me and Draco closer in friendship and then led us to discovering our soul-mate bond. Perhaps his death occurred because it was time to make a stand against Riddle and it was his way of freeing his son to choose his own path as Abraxas had not allowed him to do years ago before he married you." Harry said to her softly as he looked at her eyes

Narcissa saw the sincerity in Harry's eyes and the honesty in his words of wisdom though his age was half of hers. She saw his sadness for her loss and knew he had spoken true words as her eyes filled with tears.

"Narcissa I know you are hurting because of his loss and time wishing he was still here will not bring him back," Harry said as he knelt before her where she had fell to the floor and he held her hand, "But know that if you left us too that Draco would be the one suffering then and through your son's pain; I too would be hurting because he was hurting inside."

"Your son is my mate Narcissa, but you are his mother and his family. You gave life to the one who holds my heart and soul in his very hands. The same could be said in reverse, but if you left us right now too…there would be a dark hole in each of us for two very different reasons."

"I have a war to fight and to end and this may not be possible without our bond. If you die now; the world may never see peace again. I know you would not want to be responsible for this no matter how badly you are hurting because you would also subject your son to this if you did. Come back to us Narcissa and be whole once more." Harry asked of her gently

Draco didn't know what to say as he watched the scene before him. His eyes held tears down his face as Harry tried to reach his mother. Her grief had escalated to where she had withdrawn into herself. Harry must have realized this after he had told his story and Narcissa responded oddly. His mother was literally wasting away in front of him due to grief, anger, sadness and loneliness.

This was the fate of a veela soul-mate bond in the end if one died and the other was left behind the one who passed onward to their next life. Her and Lucius were soul-mates though they rarely spoke of it and their bond type was different than that Harry and Draco's to some extent. Here was Harry trying to reach her in the dark of her consciousness to bring her back from despair when she was lost to her loneliness. It broke Draco to see his mother like this, but it also strengthened him to know Harry was here and he was here for him if things went wrong.

"Narcissa, please, come back to us. Look at your son and see how this is effecting him." Harry said as he began to tear up now at the thought of not being able to help her anymore.

Deep inside Narcissa, she heard Harry calling and looked towards Draco, her son and only child. He was crying and held tears on his face. But why? She thought and then realized she was dying without Lucius there any longer, so she spoke the words she knew she had to say if time permitted it.

"Draco, dragon, why do you cry for me? Death comes to us all in time, but Lucius and I are like you and Harry in a way. Not meant to be a part from the other...even through time and space if allowed." She said in a soft tone, "I have been hurting for too long in his absence in my life, and the heavens call to my soul to come to them. Would you deny me peace and happiness with my mate in eternal slumber?" She asked them

Harry took in her words and his fists clenched, "We were too late, damn it." He yelled

"Mourn not for me now as my life is one full of happiness and has been lifted since you arrived here. You, Lord Peverell, saved my son's soul and as a last request I ask of you to rid the world of Tom Riddle for good as you were chosen to do."

"Draco, my dragon and my only child, you have grown into a fine young man though it was improper for me to say it aloud most times when I wanted to. You are Lord Malfoy now, and your life is your own. My only request of you is to live and to be happy with Harry as your mate and know that both Lucius and I along with most of the Potter clan will always be watching over you both."

"If you feel lost and do not know where to go; go to a place where familial magic is strong and there you may find answers to your questions." She said, "This is especially true for you Lord Peverell, as you are the last of your clan. Riddle's connection is false and he does not know that but in time he will."

Harry and Draco watched in sadness as tears fell from their eyes.

"I have no regrets for my life now. What you do now for the war is of your own course. I hold no hand over your lives, so my blessing goes with you for whatever you choose." She said as Harry nodded and he kissed her hand for the last time

"My only regret would be that I did not live long enough to see my first grandchild be born or that I would never get to hold it." She smiled

Harry and Draco now smiled in their tears as her soul lifted from her body and was carried to the heavens in a small flash of white golden light. When it was gone, Harry held Narcissa's veela frame though no life was in it now and he cried hard for the first time in ages. it was as if he felt he was responsible for this, and so Draco came and sat beside him with tears for his mother.

"Harry, do not be so hard on yourself for this. Mother was ready to see my father in the afterlife. She would not want us to be so sad just for her. Yes, it is Christmas and yes this is a sad occurrence, but do you know what?" Draco said softly as he smiled through tears

Harry looked to his mate, "What is it Draco?"

"Maybe I am sad over this or maybe less than I should be over it, but I also know mother is no longer hurting anymore. I never liked it when father left not knowing if he would return and mother always was hurt by this. Now she is at peace, her soul mended and whole again, and she no longer has to worry whether or not her mate will come back to her any more." Draco said softly

"For me, as sad as this sounds to you probably, this was the best last wish I could have given her. It is a blessing we were here to see her off and even more a miracle that we witnessed her soul ascend to a place we will one day be a part of when our time here is done."

Harry was quiet and then stood up, "Draco, you are right of course and I have been too hard on myself. I have lost much already and so it easy to forget that the loss of a physical existence isn't the end for everything of a person in our world. Narcissa will be remembered and her spirit lives on through you and me in some ways. She will no longer hurt and the best we can do is to keep on living for her and those who died for us before we were born."

"Do you wish to have you friends here when we bury her next to your father?" He asked gently

"I would like that, yes." Draco answered

* * *

Harry and Draco sat there beside Narcissa in wonder of how something so sad at such a joyful time of the year could be so inspirational to them both. Her death had brought closure in some form they barely recognized.

Harry put a stasis charm on her body so it would not start to decay as Draco made several carefully placed firecalls to his friends and started preparations for a traditional veela funeral; for her. Draco seemed to think his mother would appreciate this and Harry had no wish to deny his mate anything that made him feel more at ease over this.

Once they had arrived, they sensed the sadness in the house and looked to Draco for an answer who was in the sitting area outside of the study.

Draco looked at them and said, "My mother is gone."

Pansy and Daphne gasped in shock whilst Blaise, Theodore, Crabbe, Goyle, and Daphne's sister Astoria were strangely quiet by the stunning news.

"Harry and I arrived here and at first all seemed normal. Until Harry told her of his story and she seemed angry at him for Lucius's death. It was then he may have realized she had withdrawn further from herself than we thought she would in such a short amount of time. We had visited secretly once before to monitor the condition and she seemed better honestly, but then again, we know appearances mean nothing to witches and wizards as they can be so easily adapted or changed." Draco said

"Harry tried to the best of his abilities to bring her out of despair for me, but she spoke to us and made us realize this is not how it is supposed to be. We acknowledged this and she gave us her blessing before we held her as we watched her soul ascend to the afterlife." Draco told them as tears formed again

"My mother is no longer hurting, and for me that is important, since father always hurt her when he left and we never knew if we would see him again."

"I asked you here so we could see to seeing her off." Draco asked, "But know that until we make an announcement that not a word of this can be spoken of. I know we can trust you all as you gave Harry your word, but your parents did no such thing."

They nodded as Pansy glanced around, "Draco, you should know that none of our parents were at the battle of the platform as far we are aware yet, so there has been no news of recent disownments." Pansy said as Draco nodded, "Where is Harry?" she asked

Draco smiled slightly, "He took this slightly hard due to his past as we tried to get here to prevent it and we couldn't. He is with my mother's body, and is preparing it for burial in the elder veela ways since he feels she would like that and I agreed it would give me comfort to know my mother would have some dignity left even it won't seem like that when we bury here. We must remember though, that she and I are of a different race and culture and some of our ways are not that of yours as full humans."

Pansy and the others nodded, "Is Harry alright though?" Daphne asked concerned

Draco sighed, "I am sure in time he will be, but before we arrived here we went to his relatives home and found that death eaters had killed his uncle, so we have had a trying day already. He has lost so much already and this war is only going to get much worse. There will deaths to come and I know he will have his moments. I will be there for him though as much as he is for me."

"Was his Aunt able to identify any of them?" Blaise asked Draco now suddenly

Draco shook his head, "No, but that may be because we never asked her to as the event was still fresh and she was suffering with grief too."

"I see." Blaise said, "Has Harry mentioned anything of Riddle's aura yet?"

Draco shook his head again, "No, but that's because he knows Riddle was highly hurt during his last fight with him and will need time to heal if he wants to be active again soon and Riddle is not a fool either."

"He knows Harry will not give up so easily and that he will not bend knee to him. It angers him and so he knows healing fully is his primary goal right now. Mother mentioned something of interest in her last few moments. I want you Daphne and Astoria to research it for me and Harry, if you can as the two of you have the best chance of success given your families knack for genealogy?"

The sisters nodded; hopeful to be of some use to their new commanders.

"Mother said Tom Riddle's claim to the lineage of Antioch Peverell was a false one. This means he was either led to believe he was a part of it and in his insanity this belief of rumor he held for so long became fact to him or someone gave one of his elite's false data to feed him in hopes of making him more powerful before destroying him and taking some credit for it in some shape or form."

"I need you to find out if possible exactly how his connection is false and why they wanted Riddle to think this way?" Draco asked them

They nodded as Harry re-entered the room and they turned to him all at once.

"A moment if you would, please Draco?" Harry asked him

Draco eyed his mate, "Is something wrong, Harry?"

Harry shook his head, "Not necessarily, but you need to know this as this was your mother."

Draco walked over to him, "What is it?" he asked

Harry sighed, "Draco, did you know that your mother was under some kind of binding spell that dates back to mid-century Europe?" he asked him seriously

Draco's eyes hardened, "No. Why was she?"

"Riddle wanted your family badly in his pocket and Lucius knew this. After I defeated him during the first war, Lucius was not going to return unless forced to do so. It was inevitable that even a spirit dark lord is a formidable enemy." Harry told him

Draco's eyes began to change and turn red with yellow edges.

"What did the bastard do to my mother?" He yelled at Harry

The others looked over at the sound of the commotion and saw Draco was highly angry and Harry stood there as calm as ever before a half-transformed and angered veela. He did not look frightened at all of Draco's angered state and half-veela form that would come soon to a full form if he did not calm down.

"Draco, the dark lord placed the Body Regeneration Curse on her to keep your father in line." Harry told him softly

Draco's anger faded slightly, but his body language was anything but calm.

"He did what?" Draco whispered

"The dark lord had intended to use your mother as his third host to his sentient spirit form before he could gain a new body again for himself." Harry said, "I can and will prevent this from being done, but you have to trust me."

"I need one of your veela feathers from your wings to counter-act what he has done as this is the only are her son and as such her body...even though it is not alive; it will recognize your blood as her son." Harry asked of his mate

Draco was torn as those feathers were highly sought after on the black market of their community, but he knew Harry wasn't like this at all and he would never purposely endanger him as his mate. Yet his mind was enraged and going on about betrayal because Harry was drow and did not understand. Draco was being torn two ways.

"Draco, please listen to me." Harry asked him now desperately

Draco turned to him, but his eyes were not seeing and resumed their angry state as he began to fully transform again.

"Draco, I do not ask this of you lightly. I am well aware of how valuable these feathers are and I have no intention of giving it to anyone after I save your mother's body from being possessed by Riddle." Harry said loudly so the others could hear him

The friends who had gathered stood together, frightened, and afraid of Draco's new temperament as they all held onto each other for protection should Harry not be able to reach Draco inside of the veela that took over his mind-frame.

"Draco, if you can hear me inside there please understand I mean no harm. I just want your mom to be able to rest peacefully." Harry said, "Your friends here are scared of you and I don't want to have to restrain you today of all days. Please Draco?" Harry asked him

Draco seemed to come around, "Harry, I am sorry. I know you well enough now to know you wouldn't use my feather improperly and even more so as my own mate since that would endanger me and you do not want this. However, the veela in me just reacted and I had little time to react to it." Draco said

Harry knelt before Draco now, "We have been through a lot today Draco that has been hard on both of us. It is understandable to see why you would react this way. But if you want me to be able to save your mother, I need a feather from your wings. I will not force you to give it to me, but if you don't, your mother's body could become possessed at some point by Riddle."

Draco bowed his head and his body shook with anger at the thought of the man who murdered his father and caused his family so much grief would be as low and despicable as to use his mother in such a way."

Draco's wings grew as his veela form took shape. He knelt before his mate in a sign of understanding and submission that he would give him what he needed to protect not only them from harm but also his mother from being used as well though she was no longer alive. Harry smiled then and he carefully pulled a black and red feather from the right wing as Harry's magical energy covered the room and cleansed it of the tense energy there.

Draco's form then retreated as Harry walked back into the study. Draco stood and looked to his friends who had no idea what to think or say to this.

Draco bowed his head in shame, "I apologize if I have frightened all of you."

Blaise and Theo came forward and put their arms around his shoulders with smirks.

"It's not exactly that you frightened us per se Draco although we might have been a little at one point, but more the fact we are shocked at your behavior than anything else." Theo said

"Yeah, I mean, all this time we knew this person who was the ice prince and never let anyone tell him what to do." Blaise said

"Then we turn our backs for a few months whilst you are off having secret meetings and story dates, and the next time we turn around; you are mated to Harry Potter of all people and on top of that we find out you're the bottom. How odd?" Pansy smirked at Draco along with the rest

Draco was half-tempted to snap at them, but was stopped when Harry suddenly reappeared before them all in a flash of light.

"I hope you all have no intention of spreading rumors around as that would be disastrous." Harry smirked at them whilst Draco was trying not to snap at Harry for practically telling them they were right even if they knew was the submissive partner here. That did not mean he did not voice his opinions either. This was all before he turned to Draco softly.

"Your mother is fine now and her body as well as her spirit can be at ease." He said to him

Draco nodded as he was released and his body relaxed. They all went into the study and gave a prayer for her spirit and then Harry carried Narcissa gently outside to the Malfoy family cemetery despite the cold weather today.

When they made it outside, the snow had lightened and was falling softly now and some sunlight had pierced the clouds as well. It was as if Narcissa's soul was saying thank you and showing it the only way she knew how to now.

Harry handed Narcissa's body to Draco as he then uncovered the snow from the ground and magically made a deep hole in the softened earth. Narcissa was then stripped of all her earthly garments and jewelry as by old veela tradition and was bare as the day she had been born.

There was no casket or box to contain her body as that would violate the tradition, so she was laid softly on the earth and she was bare of any earthly possessions she owned. Harry released the stasis charm on her form as the ground was replaced over her body. He did not make a headstone for her either as he knew that in time a tree would grow there from the last of her magical energies being released as her body was absorbed into the earth. The group cried at the sadness of her loss but also smiled in knowing that her death had meaning.

It meant that they now knew war was closer than ever to those they held close to them all and that they were strong if they stayed together. They would survive, no matter how terrible the chaos seemed and how many more people they would bury that they knew. Narcissa gave them hope in her last moments and this hope drove them to see her last wish of Harry to come true.

After all final goodbyes were given, Draco's friends left with concerned hugs for their welfare and promises not to say anything. Harry and Draco went back inside Malfoy Manor to try and decide whether to stay or not due to Draco's memories there. Harry felt for the first time in many months that despite this sad event that maybe things were starting to turn in their favor and perhaps this was needed in order for them to realize it.


	16. Chapter XIII: Severus's Decision

**Chapter**** XIII****: **_Severus's Decision_

Harry and Draco had decided not to stay at Malfoy Manor for the holidays after all the events with Narcissa that had occurred there and so the new mates had forewarned Severus by owl of their relocation despite the pair had purposely neglected to mention why they had even relocated in the first place due to knowing of Severus's fondness for Narcissa as a close confident and friend for many years. She had been a close friend to him, and one he had valued highly, and so they figured it would be better to tell him of her death in person than by owl mail.

Severus had been concerned for their safety due to the relocation and not knowing exactly where it was, but Harry put his mind at ease during the second letter by assuring him that there were protective wards where they were and the dark lord would have to have been extremely stupid to try and break them in his condition right now after their last tussle together at the train station. It would be like he would have his own personal death wish to try something so stupid.

Severus mentioned he would be there for the impending discussions by the end of the week, possibly Thursday or Friday afternoon, so Harry and Draco had the week mostly to themselves before having to confront him on several levels. Levels that needed addressed if they were ever going to be working to end this war together at some point.

As for Harry and Draco though, the raven haired lord had taken his mate to a villa his family had owned in Spain many centuries ago that was still in high maintenance by the elves there. Apparently, it was well- kept and warded as mentioned before because it had once been used as a hiding place for secret documents relating to the Peverell and Potter clan lineage and of the family's magical talents through the bloodline, though it was not anymore and the files were gone now.

The best part was that Draco was managing well after the past week of events and he seemed happy to be away from Malfoy Manor. Harry understood why on a similar degree to him though not for the exact same reasons. There were just too many memories there right now for him to handle at his childhood home. Both happy memories and atrocious ones from that house…and Harry knew Draco would be better off recuperating now then dealing with them all at once.

Draco stood on the balcony of the villa that was attached to the master bedroom whilst Harry was off following a lead on one of Tom's elites and he was gazing at the sunset with his arms crossed as the bitter winter wind nipped at his skin. He supposed he would heal from this in time, but as the saying goes…'all good things come with time'

Draco then felt arms around his waist and a gentle caress of magic through his own. He immediately recognized as Harry's aura now as second nature to his own due to the first part of their bonding.

So powerful the feel of his magic that Draco relaxed and was comforted by the presence of his mate in knowing he was cared for and protected even in the absence of both their parents' presence. They both knew that Lily, James, Lucius, and Narcissa now had to be watching their sons with remorse for the tasks they left to them when they shouldn't have had to.

They knew that even from the beyond their parents watched over them and that they would keep watching even if all it would lead to was their own deaths by the hand of Lord Voldemort.

Draco, however, cherished the new life he was living even if it wasn't ideal yet for both himself and for Harry.

Draco smiled, "You're back sooner than planned? That's a surprise."

Harry nodded, "Yes well, let's just say the elite has now been unknowingly tagged for our map."

Draco smiled and nodded in silence as he enjoyed the comforting embrace though Harry sighed in his mate's silent presence.

"Your mother and father would be proud of you Draco, and to see you standing here beside me through all this. They were not given a choice of which side to serve and I am guessing that had they been given one; they would have turned their backs on the many hundreds of years of tradition eventually so you could be safe from their experiences they have had to endure." Harry told him as he broke the silence

"I know…it's just hard in knowing that I am alone besides having you in my life. I never imagined they would both be gone until now, and even though it is more than enough however, to just have you here to be with me...I know there are going to be times where I would wish I had my mother's touch of comfort or my father's guidance whatever it may be. As much as I am aware that he wasn't a very good father…he still tried to do the best he was able to protect mother and me and so he suffered for us where we would not have to." Draco said

Harry sighed again in dismay at Draco's saddened tone, "Your father, as much as I don't like to say this, he was a man who had his loyalties in the right place even if his associates were the wrong people to hold those loyalties with. His choices were stripped from him before he even knew there were options available to him if he looked for them. So he did the best he could between both with what he was given. I know these words likely don't give you comfort or set your mind at ease, but please understand that while your father's intentions were honorable and I respect this, he was also mixed with the wrong people without knowing it at first and had no choice but to obey by the time he realized it."

"I have been fighting him, his associates and their lord for as long as I remember and it seems like forever now." Harry told him wearily, "I grow tired of the war and fighting at this stage and wish it was over."

Draco nodded as he turned and smiled sadly to his mate, "I know you do and we will end this as we are supposed to. I just wish so many didn't have to die in the process, but it is war and with war comes death for some before victory. These people will suffer needlessly because we were negligent of our wrongs and because our pride as purebloods let us ignore our blindness to the situation over the last few centuries. Our pride and arrogance led us to believe anything one man or even one woman who claimed to be pureblood could say to allow us to help fix our community."

"Even I was blind to the consequences of my actions within Hogwarts. I was naïve to think my father would always be there to shield and protect me from him. That mother would always be there to give me a comforting word when times around us went darker than before. I knew deep down that this was war and at any time if our former lord grew angry; that he would not hesitate to kill any of us." Draco said

Harry smiled now, "Well, at least now you see clearly and that is important of itself. Come inside before we both catch a cold standing here too long."

Draco followed Harry inside to the den area of the master suite and they both sat in the seating by the fire pondering over what appeared to be a magically enhanced map of the wizarding world of Britain. It was showing Riddle's odd raid movements despite he was never present there with his followers due to his sustained injuries from his last battle with Harry.

* * *

On late Friday morning, Severus could not have arrived at a worse time for Harry and Draco. Harry had a bad night out whilst tracking one of Tom's elites as a lead to his hideout's whereabouts much to Draco's chagrin and complaints that it was too early to try this as it was.

Draco was now tending the wound Harry had sustained from that infernal woman, but it was stubborn due to the magic around it was causing it to fester rapidly and eat away at the skin slightly. Draco was at a loss as the wound seemed to heal the night before only to have re-opened and fester this morning again and to cause his mate more agony he felt through their bond.

Meanwhile, Harry was in a great amount of pain and through the bond Draco was trying to stay focused to tend him and keep him as comfortable as possible as he dealt with a more diluted sense of the pain his mate was in.

"Harry, Severus is here. Is there anything he can do to help that I haven't been able to do? Please, you need to be still or else that wound is just going to re-open again." Draco pleaded with his mate as Harry struggled to stand but collapsed at his mate's pleading back into his chair with an aggravated expression.

Severus watched the on-goings with care and an observant eye. It seemed Draco was good for Harry as much as the reverse was true. Both Draco and Harry had the same temperaments when they wanted though power-wise...Harry won easily over Draco despite the bonding between them.

It was true that Harry's early inheritance and his Drow, or Dark Elven heritage had forced a level of maturity over him. But it also appeared that through his pain of transitioning into a dark elf; that this new level of maturity had went through Draco as well in some ways. They both seemed to have their moments, which Severus figured would be normal for anyone else, but at least the two were more controlled than before.

Harry snarled as his teeth ground together and he struggled to sit up again and not scream in pain from the wound that was gashed across his upper right arm. Harry turned to the potions master and his eyes gave away exactly what he was trying to ask of the man he knew had the potion on him at all times.

"He sent Natalia as a lure, didn't he Harry?" Severus asked softly

Harry nodded solemnly while Draco just appeared confused and looked between Harry and then his godfather as if some kind of recognition was made between both of the two without his knowing exactly what.

"Then there is only one thing we can do for you right now. I can give you a pain potion, but then we must wait until the curse has run its course. It's not deadly, just an annoyance to the person it is inflicted upon. It causes festering wounds for a period of time that eats a small amount of skin creating blisters and immense pain throughout the body." Severus told them both quietly

"It was created originally as a deterrent for death eater elites to use as a means for escape during a raid or mission whilst panic took over the infected opponents and so it is naturally going to take a while to vanish completely though it will not cause nerve damage or something that can become permanent." He said softly

Severus gave Harry the potion who then had downed it in one drink of the vial while using his non-wounded arm and then promptly leaned back in a much more comfortable appearing position than before as he then drifted off slightly.

"Severus, exactly who is this Natalia woman you spoke of?" Draco asked him seriously with a look to his eyes

"She is Riddle's elite of stealth and tracking or at least one of them, and generally she is sent to locate rare dark artifacts for Riddle but on occasion she is used as a lure to try get info on our side by drawing us out. Rarely does she fight full combat due to her 'unique' circumstances in the Inner Circle." Severus told Draco

"What are these unique circumstances you speak of?" Draco asked

"Originally, she came to Britain from Italy to work within the Department of Mysteries, but due to her rather impressive resume; she naturally caught Riddle's attention in a good for him and bad for us kind of way." Severus said

"She is an elite follower in stealth and tracking, but she was also a former assassin hired by the higher nobility of the Italian wizarding nobility at one point. She has a very logical mind, and no one besides her knows how many she's killed already. Tom likely had her on a mission here to try and find out something he was looking into, although what I am unsure. I do know that whatever it is, it isn't going to be good either."

"Natalia may have run into Harry on accident this time, but even she is aware of who he is to her new lord; whether her cooperation was willing or not to his service. Natalia is Tom's experiment doll more or less now and so cooperation is not necessary from her. He would just force her to do as he wants as it is for the purpose of acheiving his goals. Tom has done things to her that would make most people's blood run cold when they heard of them. Including to the other elites within the Inner Circle. I do not relish her position at all." Severus said softly in a low tone

Draco shivered to the thought of exactly how bad the situation could have been if Harry had not managed to escape and evade this Natalia woman's gaze somehow.

Harry seemed to wake up and sat up with groan. Draco was on his feet instantly as Harry waved him off so he sat back down.

"Natalia was here for a reason Severus and that was why I tailed her to begin with. I wouldn't have if I wasn't so sure the information I had was not accurate, but unfortunately; it came from the High Council to me by owl yesterday as a detailed but vague missive. I agreed to look into this as I was the closest available person to do so. She is looking into the ancient magic of an old spirit that is locked away here deep beneath a ruin of some kind that is a part of an old legend for the Spanish witches and wizards who live here in this area. This spirit, or demon if you prefer, was once said to be revered as a god among the Spanish magical people until he nearly destroyed their village and then moved on to their country. The people here were forced to subdue it and lock it away before it reached the capital city at the time. His powers were put into a stasis due to the wards in his prison chains and those powers are lying dormant for now." Harry said in a rasping tone

"Tom intends to wake it up and harness its power for himself by selling another part of his soul to the demon so he has the means to destroy me once and for all. He knows I can call upon the drow gods and goddesses if need be and he also knows by now he can't do this as well, so he needs a way to counter-attack this if he engages me again, which is inevitable." Harry said seriously

Severus's face paled drastically to that as did Draco's.

"That's impossible. The demon has been chained here for over three thousand years." He told Harry as Draco sat with a very pale complexion now

Harry laughed darkly, "Natalia was Tom's experiment doll, remember? She was purposely captured and brought to him for a purpose unwillingly. Her goal was to figure out the wards around the chains to the spirit and her purpose was to be the vessel of energy for opening said chains before becoming a human blood sacrifice to awaken the spirit and its power." Harry told him sharply

Severus's eyes widened as he realized the truth in the words.

"But enough of this talk, as there is much we have to discuss isn't there?" Harry asked

Draco watched concerned as words were verbally sparred between Harry and Severus. He decided he would go and have the house-elf ready lunch for them all as it was nearly noon now. Harry noticed his mate left and sighed. Draco probably wanted to give them privacy, but at the same time was worried about an explosion of tempers.

"Severus, I know you treated me as you did mainly because you had to as a spy for Albus and the Order. However, your rivalry with my father did sometimes get the better of you with your dealings with me. I cannot say you have handled things fairly, but I also know this is war and war is not fair." Harry told him

Severus nodded silently.

"Albus is dying, and I am quite certain you know this. It was likely you he called upon to look at his now blackened hand when it first started to turn that color. I want to know something and you need to answer me. Did he have the Gaunt Ring in his possession?" Harry asked directly

Severus was rather astonished by the astuteness of Harry's observation and questioning.

"As far as I am aware, Albus managed to destroy it but this was only after the curse had been absorbed into his hand and he became ill." Severus said

Harry nodded silently as he thought this over.

"Harry, what has this to do with why we are talking?" Severus asked cautiously

"Everything." Harry answered vaguely, "Severus, did you know that Albus was planning on having me kill Tom Riddle as prophecy foretold, and then of all the ludicrous things to do after this, that he was going to send me to Azkaban Prison for being a danger to society if he had lived long enough to do so?" Harry asked him in a rather indifferent and nonchalant tone that was laced with ice now

A clatter was heard behind them as Harry saw Draco had dropped the tea he was bringing into the room for them all as lunch was prepared.

"Harry, you cannot be serious? Albus may be old and powerful as a wizard and I know I still think he is a bit twisted in some ways, but even still. He knows how much this world needs you here even after Tom's death." Draco whispered to his mate

Severus looked at Draco first and then to Harry and he saw the severity of seriousness in his gaze as he knew Harry spoke true and Draco was now very concerned.

"I am afraid I am not lying to you, Draco. Albus has always been jealous of the legacy that is associated to the Peverell lineage and for many centuries he has sought a way to usurp the natural course of historical destiny. His clan is old and powerful like mine, but the Peverell clan is still the most powerful and he wants the legacy of my family for his own gain." Harry said shortly as his eyes drifted between his mate and to Severus as well

"The arcane knowledge the Peverell clan holds is the largest in the magical international community as we are well connected to the world everywhere. The high lord has called him on numerous accounts of treason to the high court of clans, but until the war is over there is nothing he can do. The high lord knows Tom fears both Albus and myself for two different reasons, and if he were to remove one of us…that only gives Tom more edge room, which is not what he desires to do either." Harry told him

"Albus made his own lover into what was known as Dark Lord Grindelwald and for what reason we would all ask? He wanted notoriety and to be accepted by my clan as an ally of equal ability because he knew he was powerful and that he could 'do' so much more if he was allowed access to our knowledge." Harry said sarcastically now

Severus and Draco were astounded by all this new knowledge they had never even been aware of before now and remained silent as Harry continued on with his explanation.

"However, the first Lord Peverell of that age knew of his treasonous actions with our knowledge and so he then had forbid him from our library ever again since he had gone against the law and used the magic he found there for his own evil purposes. For what he would say is 'For the greater good'…" Harry said seriously

"Which is why I am asking you now Severus, who do you intend to serve during this war? A man who parades as a light icon but is shrouded heavily in darkness by his own guilt and regrets in his lifetime and now sees no way of turning back because his soul has been consumed by his guilt and hatred of himself? Or perhaps a man who sold his soul to a demon long ago to get revenge for the life he lost due to the darkened light icon who forced him to endure his misery alone and to sell it to another demon so he can have the means to bring down everything we know?" Harry asked the spy carefully

"Or would you follow me in a fight to bring both light and dark back into balance and the following events of our community's historical destiny being leveled out as equilibrium is restored." Harry asked him with more wisdom than one sixteen year old should

Severus was honestly lost for words in this moment and he knew not what to choose or to say. Draco had gone eerily quiet as Severus appeared to be thinking hard to Harry's words as his mate kept a visage of calm over himself and waited for his decision.

"Severus, I do not ask you to fight for me for nothing in return. You wonder what I could offer you besides safety and shelter, don't you?" Harry asked sagely

Severus looked at Harry with searching eyes but remained quiet and Harry saw the answer he was looking for in those eyes.

"I can provide you shelter and safe harbor. I can ensure you amnesty from the ministry for certain. I can give a new life to live away from Hogwarts after the war if this is truly what you want, Severus?" Harry said, "But I can offer you one thing Albus could never have offered you."

Severus raised his eyes to this, "And what is this you can offer me, Harry?" He said softly as if he already believed he knew the answer.

Harry relaxed and smiled gently to his former professor, "I can ensure you will be free of the dark mark forever after the war, Severus. No longer will you have to carry a mark that would cause judgment from others. No longer will you feel pain from a choice made out teenage angst when pressured into something." Harry said to him

Draco and Severus's eyes had widened dramatically to this...

"Harry, are you saying that you could remove the dark mark?" Draco asked him

Harry nodded, "Yes, I could. In fact, I could do this right now if I desired." He said, "But for such a steep reward comes a steeper price that I hate to ask of Severus after everything else he has been through already. He has been Albus's spy for too long and yet we need all the information we can gather." Harry sighed in dismay

"I can remove your dark mark Severus, but you understand the necessity of how important this war is. Gathering information that is to be reported to us as accurate and as precise as possible is going to be vital to the winning side's victory. I won't force you to spy for me and Draco from the Inner Circle, but know that if you did so; you would be aiding us in a way that is more helpful than you know." Harry told him

Severus sat in stunned silence at the newest revelation he had had today. A life for him to lead after the war without a dark mark to be worn on his forearm with shame from a bad past decision… the idea was tempting in and of itself.

Severus looked up, "I have a question if you let me ask it?"

Harry raised his eyebrows to his before he nodded in acceptance.

Severus sighed, "Life without my mark is tempting Harry, I admit. I have never wanted to change one part of my past except maybe for two or three actions. I told myself that lingering on my past and living with regret only would bring me trouble as a spy."

Harry said nothing as he eyed Severus and Draco shifted uncomfortably whilst a house-elf brought lunch and then vanished quickly again.

"The dark mark was one of these actions that I believed I would never be able to change. Knowing that I could be free of it; it makes me uncertain honestly." Severus said in a sigh

"So my question is that if you removed my dark mark and I no longer had it as a mark of shame to bear from my decision…wouldn't that upset the balance as well? People will still remember that I was on his side for a time, regardless I was a spy after a certain point." He asked him

Harry looked at him seriously and then pondered his answer momentarily before he tried to answer this as simply as possible.

"Severus, the balance is so upset right now that I believe when Tom dies it will shift to a more normal pose, but the shift will not be as large as most believe it will be." Harry said, "Let me ask you this in return and see if you can find the answer."

"If Tom dies as foretold, and yet Albus lives past this point; the balance of our community is still power divided. Why do think Albus wanted to lock me away if he survived, Severus?" Harry asked him sharply

Draco and Severus's minds were in overdrive mode before Draco suddenly snapped his gaze to his mate and Harry smiled and nodded as Draco now realized the gravity of this scenario.

"He wants you out of his way after Tom's demise so he can garner the credit for making you strong enough to kill him before he resumes his own crusade on the Ministry." Draco said, "The headmaster is aware of exactly how much influence you have there and he knows people seem to cling to you like magnets. He fears you will end his goals and his agenda before he could even start."

Severus looked at Harry for the truth in these words. The elven lord turned his verdant gaze to the former potions master and the dour man saw the honesty and sincerity in his gaze to this.

"This war is multi-faceted, Severus. Much to the unaware of most I believe. If I dispose of Tom, and in return Albus locks me away; he could use the Ministry to usurp the high council and that would upset the balance again." Harry said

"This war is more than it seems. It has gone on far longer than most realize as Albus keeps a very tight leash on his secrets that he doesn't want exposed much like Tom does too. I am the last descendant of Ignotus and as Lord Peverell, I must see this war end or die trying."

"I am the only one who can see to Tom's death, and I am also the only one who can see that Albus doesn't usurp the council. If he does…he usurps the will of our very existence and we become twisted as he is. He aims to reshape civilization by means of my family's ancient magic that he has been forbidden to ever read again. This magic is so ancient that if you don't know what you're doing; it has disastrous effects. This magic is rarely seen or heard of anymore and forbissen for this very reason." Harry said sadly

The room was awkwardly silent and lunch plates were clearly by banishing charms as Severus knew he needed to choose.

Finally Severus sighed, "I propose an idea in your direction, Lord Peverell." He said seriously

Harry looked up immediately to this as Severus had used his title of respect and had referred to him in a deferential manner. He nodded for him to continue as Severus gathered his remaining thoughts together for this idea.

"I will spy for you in exchange for the removal of the dark mark and safe harbor should I need it after the war. Possibly during the war if I am exposed to either side now." Severus said, "However, my idea is this. Tom trusts me probably more than Natalia, but he won't say that to her. I know much of what goes on within his side and if I don't; I can easily seek audience to obtain the information I need. I can easily relay what I learn to you from the Inner Circle and the Outer Circle after meetings. However, I can also say and vouch to say that right now I am Albus's closest confident even though Minerva runs a near second." Severus told them heavily

Harry and Draco were interested now and they listened with open minds.

"I can relay what the Order of the Phoenix does easily as well to you both after a session with them. But Albus of late has taken to having tea with me more often in his office. During these sessions, he often talks of things he may not tell anyone else. I can also give this information as well though you will need more patience for it since you may wait longer for it to occur as it does not happen each time."

"I also suggest telling Minerva and Filius of Albus's little schemes that surround you, Harry. They won't like this at all and I am near positive they would side with you over him after this is revealed secretly. Harry, I am unsure if Minerva ever told you this and it may not be my place to do so, but since she is not here I am going to tell this as you should know since it is rather important."

" You recall that your mother and I were friends in school?" Severus asked as Harry nodded, "Well, we amended the incident in her fifth year and before Lily died, she had entrusted Minerva a key to some kind of vault that is of extremely high value to your clan on James's order as the former head of the family. Lily told her that when you turned sixteen she should give it to you, but she never had a chance with everything that has happened." Severus said, "Lily had confided in Minerva that she didn't trust Albus to protect them as much as he promised and James had albeit agreed with her due to knowing of Albus's and your clan's history better since graduating from school."

Harry seemed interested to this now, "Do you know what the key goes to or what is so precious to my clan that she had to entrust the key to her?"

Severus eyed the house and then looked at Harry, who for the first time had wide and comical eyes.

"Severus, are you telling that my own mother entrusted the key that protect our lineage's sacred ancient documents that were once here in this house to Minerva after they moved them on my father's orders?" Harry yelled at him

Draco was now confused about what happened.

"Yes Harry, she did. As far as I know, Minerva still has the key since Albus trusts her not to betray him and that James taught her Occlumency to avoid Albus's probing. After James and Lily's deaths, she has been like a seesaw with whom to trust more. Albus or you." Severus said

"Damn it. Of all the things that could have happened. We're so lucky Albus refuses to use Legilimency on her and that my father had the wisdom to teach her Occlumency or that key would be in his hands now and we would be screwed over three times more than we are right now. That would be a big amount of trouble that I don't care to deal with." Harry said in an exasperate sigh

"And what of Filius, Severus? You did mention him as well." Harry asked with another sigh

Severus wondered whether or not he should say this given Harry show of temper before.

"I suppose I did, but I doubt you will like this news any better than the previous." Severus said

Harry rolled his eyes, "Great."

"Filius was Lily's mentor in charms when she did her apprenticeship at Hogwarts before graduating and moving on to work for the Department of Mysteries. More importantly, the experimental charms division of the department." Severus said dryly

Harry threw his hands in the air at that as Draco stifled his laughter at Harry's emotional displacement.

"Prior to her death, she and Filius had secretly been developing some kind of spell that is a kind ward. It was a protective ward to be exact, but one that was supposed to be able to be used in combat for long periods of time and without it draining too much magical energy to sustain it." Severus said

Harry and Draco eyed Severus intently as this could prove useful in the near future.

"I know the spell never was finished before Lily died and it was because the Ministry had deemed it too dangerous for experimentation. However, I also know Filius is aware Albus uses his allies like chess pieces to put lightly."

"He was angered greatly that he had sacrificed your mother and father for his war. In retaliation to this Filius kept the spells documents with him and he may have finished it now as a sense of retribution towards Albus for Lily and James through you as their son. I also know that he has kept the Potter estate in tact because Lily's lab is there, so he may be willing to help us in return with the right incentive." Severus said

Harry mulled all this over and his head felt as though it were spinning. Finally Harry sighed and nodded.

"I will take what you have said into consideration Severus, but I know you have things today you want to do. I still have some things we need to talk of and not all are pleasant, so can you return in another week?" Harry asked

Severus thought momentarily, "Yes, I should be able to."

Harry nodded silently as Severus knew he had been given leave and apparated out. Harry shrunk from the chair to the floor as Draco knelt beside him and offered a comforting hand.

"Draco, I have a feeling we may yet need to return to Hogwarts despite the danger we will be in there and I am unsure I want to put us both through this." Harry said

"Harry, we will both be in danger no matter where we are as long as Tom and his death eaters are out there." Draco said

Harry nodded, "I suppose so. Maybe if we complete the other two bonds on time before the term we will have an edge of advantage. Albus is going to die soon; I can feel the air whispering of it."

Draco remained silent for a moment.

"We just to remember to get Severus instated as the new Headmaster if we are to go back. He plays both sides and now for our benefit than Albus or Tom, but above all else he adheres to the ministry and the school board." Draco said

Harry nodded, "I agree. I will need to write Ron and Hermione though to let them know of the changes in the plans ahead. You should also write to Pansy and Blaise to forewarn them. Tell them that if they need to tell anyone else; that it must be absolutely necessary they make sure they are aware of how dangerous this is and the fewer who know the better." Harry said

Draco nodded, "I know."

Harry semi-smiled now, "On another note my mate, the second part of the bond could be started as early as Monday, but I will need to prepare for the rite to be done properly if we decide to it then." Harry smiled

Draco smiled now, "So the first part was the physical bond. This one is the emotional one, right?"

Harry smiled and nodded, "Yes. Dark elves are notoriously famous for their protective nature over the mates, especially when soul-bonds like ours are involved and a part of this is due to the fact that our bonding is more of a ritual than just a simple act of sealing the bond by intercourse. Three parts to the whole scenario is included with our bond. First, our bond is physically sealed through the act of intercourse and that ties us together as soul-mates for good."

"This part of the bond then allows us to draw on each other's magical energy if needed. Like if we needed extra magical energy in combat. We also immediately know the other's aura and we are able to start to recognize the feel of our mate's magic when near the other. This prevents others from trying to pretend they were me as even polyjuice could not fool it." Harry said calmly

Draco nodded as he listened to the explanation. He was honestly fascinated by his mate's culture since the veela traditions didn't date back anywhere near his.

"The second part, as you mentioned Draco, is the emotional part of our soul-bond. I am going to prepare a potion that we will both have to drink before we do anything else. Once this is done, we will share an exchange of blood between our palms."

"When both our blood mixes together, we will feel a sensation similar to if we were burning from the inside. Not for long though and when it subsides, a telepathic link between our minds should have formed."

This way we can communicate to each other mentally at all times. This may depend on how far we are from the other and so we will have to test how much distance we can have for it to work. Our magic will now be able to tell more easily if the other is hurt or distressed, thus allowing the other to respond accordingly. I will have to teach you Occlumency to protect your mind from being invaded though and we will have to learn certain barriers to put up if we need to concentrate and cannot be distracted." Harry said

"We will have the ability to open and close the link at will, but something tells me that closing it will be painful if left that way for too long, so we need to be careful when we do this too." Harry finished as he relaxed since Natalia's damnable curse was starting to finally fade some.

Draco smiled, "So, what's the third part?"

Harry looked at his mate with a smirk, "Patience Draco. There's no need to be so eager for something that can only happen during the light of the next full moon." Harry purred at him

Draco shivered now and moaned as Harry nipped at his neck and bit the sensitive spot before licking it and sending tingles through his body.

"Come, I think you and I need some time for ourselves, don't you think?" Harry purred dangerously soft, "Especially if we end up back at school with no privacy because of dorms."

Draco moaned as he let Harry drag him to the bedroom, not that he had complaints. As they left the room, neither mate noticed the return of the obsidian eyes that had seen the whole spectacle whilst waiting for a chance to cut in and break some bad news already.


	17. Chapter XIV: Secret Meetings I

**Chapter XIV:** _Secret Meetings I_

There were now only about two and half weeks of winter vacation left and Harry didn't like the idea of going back to Hogwarts for the rest of the term nor for the whole rest of their last year, but he also now saw it as a necessity as well despite the horrible and deep-seated feelings going on inside of him about it.

The raven haired lord had many enemies; many more than he once did before he became a lord at all, and he was well aware of it after a few skirmishes last summer after he had escaped his summer prison in his aunt's home. The fact that Draco would be targeted just because he was who he was made him infuriated though he knew there was nothing he could do to stop it. Harry also knew that his blonde-haired mate was also targeted now for defying his father's former lord and master, which made it worse on him too and Harry had double trouble trying to keep them both safe from harm on all sides.

Harry sighed as he sat in the villa's study area and rifled through the many papers before him. Harry and Draco had completed the emotional bond the week before and it was for the best, however, the next phase had to be done during the full moon and that meant whilst they were back at school too. The new lord to a dying House internally was aware that pulling this off would be difficult, stressful and dangerous for the both of them; but he wouldn't have changed anything in this for the world except perhaps if they might have reached Narcissa sooner and so she was still here with them.

Harry had his share of secrets too that he had yet to tell his mate of, and some of these secrets his mate may already be suspicious about. Like the fact he had mentioned being contacted by the high council and doing what they wanted during his initial discussion with Severus after being attack by Natalia Eruiyna. It was true that he had been, but that suggested that Harry was also a part of the council to some degree if Draco had listened and took the clues given then.

Harry knew that his blonde mate was quite intelligent and if he was given enough evidence that the Slytherin side of him would play detective and figure it out eventually. Harry was a part of the high council and an elite part of it due to his lineage, but he had not said anything to Draco about this yet as he had enough to worry about as it was.

By worries he meant about today more than anything. Harry had written his friends as Draco had about their impromptu decision to return and the plans involved in this by coded letter form, but today they were actually venturing to Hogwarts under invisibility to speak with Minerva about her allegiance to the war-front. Both mates were hoping to garner her support for their side if possible since Severus had mentioned it might be.

They knew their professor would at least be willing to hear them out and so this was a positive sign, but whether or not she agreed to side with them…this would decide if their escape from the castle would be easy or hard today.

Draco entered the study with a soft knock and appeared ready to leave. Harry's mouth internally watered at sight. Draco's hair was gelled, but not flat to his skull. Instead it had more of spiked look. But his clothes were what made Harry want him more.

Of all the things Draco could have worn today…

There in all his ethereal glory stood Draco in a pair of jeans that hugged his waist just right. He wore no belt to hold them up, which indicated the jeans had been tailored to fit him this way on purpose, but that still didn't take away from the image. His torso was the accentuating the jeans by being covered in pearl grey silk long-sleeved and button-down shirt that was left un-tucked while the top two buttons were undone.

Harry's mouth watered and then went dry as he tried to regain focus so they could leave. His lower regions had a different idea as it came to life immediately and wanted relief now. Harry inwardly cursed teenage hormones as he stood to leave with Draco.

Harry smirked as he played with an idea in his head. If he had to be this uncomfortable during this meeting, then why shouldn't his mate suffer the same way he was going to have to?

Harry walked over to Draco and appeared calm. He didn't want Draco to suspect his idea and be able to counter it so easily.

"So, we will leave for Hogwarts shortly. I will cast a temporary invisibility charm on both of us and we will apparate to Hogsmeade before proceeding to walk to the castle's gate." Harry told Draco

Draco nodded in understanding and sighed as he prepared himself mentally for this.

"As you know, Severus's recent bad news has had an impact on how we will get through the gate due to Albus's new level of paranoia. Luckily, I know for certain that a friend of our esteemed headmaster is supposed to be visiting around the same time, so when the new Auror gate guards allow him through; we will cease the opportunity to go through as well but be undetected as we do so." Harry said

"Harry, who exactly is it that is visiting and that we are supposed to be following inside?" Draco asked

"Kingsley Shacklebolt. He's a highly valued member of the Order due to his high Auror rank in the Ministry of late and I know he also might perhaps side with me too. However, right now we have enough to worry about as it is, and so we'll discuss this later when more appropriate. I don't doubt Severus will have news for us after this meeting, and that could be good or bad."

Draco nodded as he was seemingly lost to thoughts.

Harry wrapped his arms around Draco, "Don't worry too much about it. At least we won't have to try and follow Alastor Moody inside the castle today. That would have been a touch more difficult due to his damnable eye that sees all things invisible to everyone else."

Draco smiled, "I suppose that's true."

"By the way Draco," Harry smirked as his arms tighten around his waist, "I want you to know that you look absolutely eatable in those clothes and I am hard-pressed not to purposely make us late just so I can ravish you out of those clothes."

This was all stated as Harry licked the shell of Draco's ear and his hips bucked into his mate to let him know exactly how turned on he was by those clothes. Draco's breath had hitched as he tried to not moan.

Draco had accidently pushed back into the buck of his mate's hips before he smirked and turned around before Harry could progress further on him.

"Well, it seems someone wants to play. Unfortunately, as much as I'd love to…we have somewhere to be and the person waiting is the one who has the shortest fuse for tardiness in the castle besides perhaps one other being there. I don't think we should keep her waiting too long." Draco breathed in husky whisper

Harry's expression changed instantly and Draco knew tonight was going to be long for him and this stunt.

"Then shall we?" Harry purred at Draco as he held out his hand to him

Draco smirked, "Of course."

* * *

They apparated out of the villa and landed directly onto the grounds of Hogsmeade village where their mission was just beginning to unfold for the new war-front efforts being made by both of them together. The benefit of power in transportation for the two mates; they could apparate longer distances without needing to make several stops during travel times to regain some magical energy before apparating again if necessary.

Once they arrived in the village, the people there had stared immediately at the two as they sensed their powers and knew they were not your average powerful wizards automatically even if they did not recognize them. They, however, were not threatened by the feel of their powers so they watched them as the two headed towards Hogwarts. They assumed Albus had summoned them for the war and his plight for aid and let them be.

Harry ignored it for the most part as he was used to it by now and Draco followed the example even though he was slightly unnerved since he was not so used to this kind of attention even if the Malfoy name did go far and wide among the masses. At least they were in their true appearances, meaning Harry looked more like a dark elf than human and Draco seemed more veela than human to them, so they were not as easily recognized.

Their clothes alone stated they were rather wealthy and could afford anything they desired, so the village folk either were wary of approaching them or they just kept their distance to make sure they remained safe if the two had proved to be a threat. Their clothes may not have been traditional wizard robes, but even muggle clothing had standards and you could tell when it is better made than others.

Harry cast several charms over them. One charm cast was done so that it kept their clothes dry despite the snow on the ground. A warming charm so they didn't freeze to death from the colder weather than where they were before and since they both had left their cloaks behind.

Finally, when they had reached the entrance of the village amid the stares and the whispers of whom people thought they might be; Harry cast a nonverbal and wandless invisibility charm over them and they disappeared from sight as well as their snow tracks. Harry snorted in laughter under his breath though and Draco just shook his head at the villagers' displacement. Oh how an inheritance can change a person? Harry was barely recognizable in his elven look unless you knew what to look for on him and most yet did not.

"I can hardly wait till everyone realizes they saw the new Harry Potter look and didn't even realize it was me?" Harry said half amused and half sarcastic through the link they shared mentally now since they were supposed to be un-seeable to everyone else

Draco smiled at this, "At least none of them were brave enough to approach us and interrogate us on the spot." He laughed softly and quietly in response

Harry shrugged, "Wouldn't have made too much of difference if they did because you and I know we could easily best anyone there in a duel and or avoid them with more spell-casting."

Draco rolled his eyes now, "Of course, the answer to everything. Just cast more magic to avoid trouble or carefully beat down your interrogator without killing him in anger first."

Harry smirked at this as Draco shuddered pleasurably to that response while Harry pretended he hadn't noticed it in the link between them and filed it away for later re-evaluation, "Well not always the answer. Had this person been a reporter and annoyed me too much…as a statement to his or her business of collecting gossip and of me wanting my privacy for us both; I might have just landed the poor soul in the hospital for a few days to teach them a lesson about no is no in my book."

Draco stared at his mate now.

Harry shrugged again, "You honestly can't blame me since I have been dealing with our media since I first arrived here to our community again after spending the first eleven years away from it believing I was worthless only to be turned into a boy hero for a world I barely remembered yet. Our media system needs revised badly on numerous accounts and one of the first things I plan to cover after the war and all of the major security issues are done and out of the way."

Draco nodded wisely, "I see your point though your treatment by your relatives still angers me at times when mentioned, but you did the right thing for Petunia and Dudley. They need you now more than ever and to hold a grudge would be stupid even if most would."

"However, you never really did ask for our newspaper and magazine companies to attack you the way they did over the years, but still yet they hounded you until you had given in and this was to try and appease their ferocious appetites for gossip about you and whatever else they wanted. In turn, when you had given them what they wanted; it had only made it much worse afterwards." Draco said sagely

Harry nodded, "Exactly, and now that I'll need my high titles more often; the media will be practically stalking me if something isn't done after the war and quickly. Once the war is over, and if we ever have children when we feel timing is more correct…I don't want them to have to deal with the stress our media system causes us now. It is not fair to them as much as it is to us right now either."

Draco stayed quiet to this as he pondered the realities and revelations made by this statement.

"On top of the fact that I will be likely heralded as a war hero after it is over. You will likely be seen several ways during and after the war. I imagine people will assume you will side as your father did when you did not."

"Then they will ultimately see you with me a lot more and possibly my friends too. This will cause a questioning among them about what happened and then it may lead to an ugly reveal of our relationship as soul-mates in time."

"This to Tom's faction for the current war makes you equally as targeted as me now, so we will have to step up our training regimen together as mates and knowing our abilities. Knowing how they effectively work together in a lethal combat scenario so we're not disadvantaged by this and how is the best way to use them given a random situation at any given amount of time."

"This is on top of the public criticism from our esteemed local community, of course. They will know me as the innocent seemingly boy hero they adore and you as the son of a former death eater as much as I am sorry this hurts you to hear me say." Harry scowled darkly while still invisible as they walked on toward the gate slowly.

"They will likely think you coerced me to think that I was your mate unwillingly when we know that isn't true at all. The Ministry may get in our way, but if that should occur; I'll fight fire with equally burning fire since the public has no evidence of coercion."

"In time though, after all this, they will recognize me as Lord Peverell and you as my chosen soul-mate. The one that…despite all odds against us now; I have come to love more than anything else in this world. Draco, please know that you are all I have left to keep me grounded here in this world. I hope you realize that for me there is no one else and there never will be." Harry said softly

Draco was shocked beyond words to this. Harry had more control over his emotions than he used to, but his inheritance shined through in this moment as the maturity in his words hit Draco like a smack to his face. The veela in Draco honestly had not thought of the repercussion of a relationship between them once they had graduated and left the safety of Hogwarts and so the blonde had not worried about that at all.

Even if the seemingly more logical side of Draco as a person had pondered over it once in a while. To know Harry cared so deeply for him so early in their bond cemented the fact more now than ever before that he had made the right choice in following him when he had been graced with the opportunity to do it nearly four months ago in September when school resumed again for their sixth year.

Draco smiled brightly though it went unseen as they were invisible but Harry felt it nonetheless through the link as the continued their mental heartfelt conversation, "Harry…I am lost for words right now to be honest. I never had really thought of our relationship and what it would look like to those outside the school once we left." He stated in a whisper mentally

"I know there will be criticism towards us, but the gravity of how heavy it might be has just hit me even if I had anticipated some backlash from it and wondered about our relationship like this occasionally from time to time. However, I don't doubt you will protect me if need be because I cannot do it for myself, especially if the Ministry involves itself. I-I have come to love you as well even if the timing has been short so far."

"Perhaps this is a little of the bond pushing us closer to strengthen it more rapidly than it should, I am unsure, but know that I am honored that you chose to give me a chance to be here beside you. Not only for the war, but also as your mate and bonded when many would have turned away from the idea even if it killed them to do it."

Harry smiled, "Time was not on our side for this as it was. My inheritance was early and forced as you know, which then catapulted your own by a year ahead of schedule because of my own beginning too early. This was so that we could relate on the same levels to the other after they had occurred. We've had to grow in magical knowledge, wisdom, and power to help the war end despite our young age. However, wisdom couldn't have been obtained by either of us without our inheritance forcing us to grow up mentally a whole lot, realize the reality of our world's state of affairs, and become mature enough to handle them as they come."

"I do not regret any of the changes I had to endure at this point, and I certainly do not regret saving you from yourself. If I had not, not only would you have been lost to me forever due to rage and bad decisions in a now rare moment of true grief due to lies told to you, but I would become a power more terrible to this community than Riddle is currently."

"You are my soul-mate. You are my words of comfort when my spirit is down and I see nothing but darkness, Draco. My light that leads me back to clarity when all seems lost forever behind me. You are the one who my mind thinks of when we are apart and the one I mentally know is waiting for me to come back while not considering if I will be able to come home at times, but just hoping and believing I will do so." Harry said honestly

Draco had never heard words directed at him that had moved him quite like this. He smiled and felt the spark of happy tears gather in his eyes. His life while it had had its share of hard times recently; it was more than he had hoped for if he lived to the end of the war because he knew he would be loved and not forced to marry out of convenience as his parents had at first before their bond was discovered.

"Harry, I think we should do the final part of the bond at school when it resumes. The power of the castle will protect us as she did before because she likes you Harry and knows you are one of her founder's children. This adds a level of strength to the final bond that nowhere else would have beside the Potter Estate, I believe." Draco said finally

"I agree." Harry said, "But Draco, after the third part is done we will be permanently tied for life. You know this and we both agree to it willingly. I am happy about this as I'm sure you are, but after this part is done will you also agree to formally marry me and make it legal to our world for everyone else to see?" Harry asked him with an invisible smile that Draco felt through the telepathic link

Draco's breath hitched as his body shuddered with excitement and a feeling of happiness that made him want to float away as he tried not to burst into a loud round of yeses to the scenery around them.

"I'd be honored to Harry." Draco said momentarily after he managed to somewhat calm him his mental state of emotions from overdoing it.

"Good. Then we will do this, but do you want a secret private wedding with just us and an officiator and have the advantage of it to surprise our friends with later on? Or would you rather wait till after graduation and have a big wedding with all our friends, considered family, and allies there to celebrate it with?" The raven lord asked diplomatically

"Keep in mind that a secret wedding for now is advantageous not just for surprises. The war is still looming and I hope to end it this year, but who knows what will occur in that time. Not only this, but it also allows the third part of our bond more time to seal together and time for us to learn our new abilities given to us by my clan after it before we ultimately are forced onto the battlefield." Harry said

"But I also know that this is a big event that friends, family, and others would want to see even if it would be semi-dangerous to hold such an event at this time. The news would be chaotic and definitely stir some good fun if we did this too. The choice is yours to make Draco, however, we will need to wait as Kingsley approaches now and we need to focus on what we came to do here."

Draco looked up and saw Harry was right and that Kingsley had arrived right on time to the castle as Severus mentioned. The Auror wore a grim expression on his visage and Harry momentarily wondered if something bad had occurred prior to his arrival. he hoped not...

The auror guards were thorough and scanned Kingsley through very effectively. Harry and Draco had to stand a good distance back to keep from being caught into his scans due to their power auras.

At last the scanning was over and Kingsley was given pass by the guard. Harry and Draco waited till he was a short distance from the gate and crossed the barrier line. They did not move further yet until the gate was shut and Kingsley was a short distance from them.

Harry knew they could apparate out once they had gotten inside, so escape was no worries. Just breaking and entering this time…

Draco had been observant of his mate's careful movements and followed them exactly so that he had a good chance of keeping this mission as safe for them as possible. Draco honestly believed Harry could easily pass for a Slytherin now as he could sneak around much better than before, which was saying something considering all of his little side adventures.

While Harry and Draco waited for Kingsley to pass to the second floor corridor towards the headmaster's office, the blonde whispered something to Harry and he nodded that this was probably a good idea.

Harry then raised a hand to McGonagall's office door and whispered the words, '_Confuto declamatio lacuna' _as a very powerful silencing ward was placed on the door from the outside as they knocked on it softly to keep from alerting attention to themselves.

McGonagall let them in though she showed no surprise that there was outwardly no sign of anyone there at all. As the door shut and she turned around, what she saw took her breath away and she tried to remain calm.

Harry's elven appearance made him more like James than she had expected it to, and yet she saw the signs of Lily and of himself in it too. His dress jeans were perfectly fit to him as Draco's were and the black cashmere sweater he wore accentuated his new frame more than she had been allowed to notice while the term was on-going.

His eyes were no longer clouded by glasses and held knowledge, power, and a sense of wisdom to them she knew came from James's lineage after inheritance came for them. His top layer of raven black hair was pulled into a high pony-tail which gave you a clear view of his now long, thin, and pointed ears of his heritage. Ears she knew that in time would be able to hear all the voice in the castle and of the elemental spirits of the area. He was going to be a force to be reckoned with if anything and just by seeing him now showed her it had already started.

She then turned to Draco who was with him for some reasoning or another. He had changed a lot too from what she saw and could read without words. There was a sense of complacence between them and Draco seemed as though he could sense Harry's emotions as she stared them down.

"I see you both have changed in more ways than one this previous term. You both have changed more so than the staff here truly realized and honestly I am glad since this community needs as much hope as it can get. Seeing the full effect of these changes has given me this sense of hope I cannot deny or explain." Minerva smiled to them, "I am pleased to see you are safe and healthy despite the holidays and hard times with the war looming over all our heads."

"Minerva." Harry said in acknowledgement but did not lower his head to her as Draco nodded his head to her in respect

Minerva raised an eyebrow and lowered her head in respect with a smile, "Lord Peverell." She said gently and easily

Harry's lips turned into an upturned smile at this to her.

"You know why I have come then?" He asked her

McGonagall sat in her den and gestured for them to do the same and so they did as she pursed her lips together in irritation.

"To some extent yes, but Severus was not very good at describing all of why either?" She said, "I had assumed you came to retrieve the key Lily entrusted to me years ago and the few documents and files from the vault." She asked them curiously

Harry smiled hesitantly, "Yes that is partially why, but Severus did not describe all of why we are here because I did not feel it was safe to entrust it to him at that time due to the number of new ears here."

Minerva nodded, "Wise decision on your part, Harry. The castle is not the same as it once was anymore. The war has taken a toll on everyone here and the castle's aura seems to dim each day it continues on and new people who do not treasure the castle and it's sentience as a magical entity as it should are being allowed to pass through here for what seems as safety precautions."

Harry nodded in silence as he thought about this heavily.

"Minerva, I know you have served under Albus for a very long time and you consider him a good friend at the very least. He has shown our world what they wish to see while his true agenda is hidden by a thick black fog." Harry said to her seriously

Minerva nodded gravely, "I have suspected as such for many years, and especially after your mother and father were practically sacrificed to Riddle during the first war. It hurts to know a man I trusted once with my very life has betrayed me in such a way, but I wish to hear your side and of Albus's intentions before I choose either to side with you or from now on to remain neutral." She said

"I am old now, and my body while it can fight, does not have the stamina it used to for longer sustained combat if it needed it. Neutrality is an option I will endure if I feel I must and if I need to survive for some cause other than to fight to the bitter end of this damnable war my fellow classmate Riddle began years ago." She sighed heavily

Harry nodded in respect to this as Draco seemed surprised vaguely that Minerva had gone to school with Riddle like his grandfather had done.

She smiled, "Before we move onto such serious matters though, would you both like to join me for lunch?" She asked

Harry looked at Draco in question and he approved so Harry agreed to eat with her before moving onto more serious matters.

Minerva decided to be a sneak now as she snapped here fingers and called for a house-elf who had an exuberant way of greeting Harry each time he saw him.

"Dobby." She called

Harry and Draco smirked behind her. This would be interesting.

Dobby appeared in the room and looked to Minerva before he noticed Harry and Draco behind her and the ones he now called Masters when they were graduated and moved to the renovated Peverell estate.

"Masters Harry and Draco, Dobby is glad to see you both so well. Professor, is masters in trouble?" Dobby asked worriedly

Professor McGonagall was rather floored now. This was not the reaction she expected at all, but she went with the flow.

"No Dobby, they are not in trouble. We are just discussing some things that revolve the war and the dark master. But could you please bring us lunch since we need to eat?" She said kindly

Dobby nodded enthusiastically now, "Of course. Dobby will be bringing three lunch trays here momentarily. Are there any requests for the trays?"

Harry shook his head, "Not this time Dobby, however, after you do this for us I need you to go to check on Winky and her recovery progress at our estate in Bristol." Harry asked him

"Of course, Master Harry." Dobby said as he clapped, "I will be happy to as Winky fared much better last time I had saw her."

Harry smiled, "That's good."

Dobby disappeared as Minerva reseated herself in confusion.

"I think I am confused. Usually he bounces off the wall when he sees you and tries to tackle you with hugs to the floor?" Minerva said

Draco scowled at that as Harry smirked slightly.

"Yes, well Dobby now belongs to the Peverell family as a paid working elf there. He asked me to take him and Winky on because the other kitchen elves were starting to become annoyed with Winky's continual depression." Harry said

"I see." Minerva said, "So Harry, why exactly is Draco here with you? Not that I'm complaining, but I just find it odd is all."

Harry sighed, "Minerva, there is a lot of things that went on last term that most of the staff missed. Mostly due to me being in the hospital wing the first two weeks of the term and not knowing if Riddle would torture me into insanity through my mind link to him or death through those dreams or not."

Draco stiffened as he heard that pronouncement. He had not been aware that the strength of the dark lord's curses would still be full effect for his mate through his scar and those dreams.

Minerva nodded, "Go on then."

"After I woke up from two weeks of searing paining due to Cruciatus and other various curses, I kept to myself for a few days to catch up on what I missed while I was indisposed and recuperating. However, I particularly watched Draco during this time even if he had not been aware I had done this." Harry said

"We all remember last term when the newspapers were practically gloating over Lucius's death and the discovery that he had been a death eater in truth. It was hard for Draco to take the pressure of the media since he was used to being exposed to it in this way."

"However, when I read what the prophet had said caused Lucius's death, my blood boiled with anger and it broke one of the last straws in me. The papers lied but only because they didn't know any better." Harry told her seriously

Minerva gestured for him to continue as Dobby quietly brought the lunch trays and the disappeared with a pop out of the room. The quickly prepared their plates as Harry resumed the story.

"The reason I was in such pain for two weeks is because Tom had needed to know the contents of the prophecy we shattered in the department of mysteries last year along with at least half a dozen time turners." Harry said

"Riddle is getting desperate now, but then he was angry. Now, he is infuriated, desperate and he is currently resorting to any means to win this war by killing me and proving it by showing the community my dead corpse. For two weeks straight, all of the elites who confronted us at the Ministry were held captive in their own homes under guard of other elites."

"They were tortured by their own comrades in effort to loosen their tongues further to reveal anything any other one may not have said. The pain intensified the last week more than it should have though." Harry sighed

Minerva seemed concerned by this as Draco waited to see what he would say next.

"The second week and the last night of the pain I endured was when Lucius was called forth to Tom's interrogation room for the events of the happenings in the department of mysteries as all the others had been before him."

"Lucius was like Tom's right hand after Severus, but our professor was not on the mission so he was never interrogated. Lucius had been by far tortured the worst by his colleagues due to his position in the ranks next to their lord. Narcissa had bandaged and re-bandaged some of the wounds on him and I could tell Lucius was fading slightly despite her aid. He told her when he was summoned that if he didn't return that she was to tell Draco that he was proud of him and from now on to make the right choices in his life that he was not allowed to make because of Abraxas being a close confident to Riddle in school before his early death." Harry said

"What came of Lucius's summoning for interrogation turned into his cold blood murder of his right hand man out of petty anger for his seeming uselessness and non-importance." Harry said darkly

Minerva gasped in shock.

"The treason is not over yet though. Riddle had enough loyalty to a family who had served him for so long to be buried properly. So, he polyjuiced a person caught in his ranks for giving information to our side in exchange for safe harbor and an escape in to Lucius. The pseudo-body double was sent to the Ministry after being found dead by an auror who was tolling casualties after their last successful mission." Harry told them

"So, Lucius's name was slandered and his reputation at the Ministry ruined by this discovery. All this occurred as the real body of Lucius was banished to the foyer of Malfoy Manor where Narcissa found it two hours later after being cold." Harry said sadly

Minerva nodded, "I see. So Lucius wasn't truly killed by the aurors then? But what has this to do with Draco being here now?" She asked

Harry smiled slightly, "Everything I am afraid."

"Draco has never dealt with the media in such a way before nor did he know of the true way his father had died. Only I did and only I had the power to save him from despair and choice laced with regret if I wanted to."

"I told myself that even though Lucius was pretty much my enemy even at the time of his death that he obviously cared for Draco and Narcissa very much. Draco didn't deserve to walk the path his father had especially since it was based off of a lie."

For the first time in the room Draco spoke, "Then one evening, Pansy had been mothering me ever since that event and it had started to seemingly annoy me more than I could handle so at dinner I left the table and fled to the owlry for solace."

"I made an excuse to Hermione and left as well, knowing now might be my only chance to seek Draco out alone and to try and speak with him." Harry said

"When Harry reached the owlry, I remember thinking he was there to gloat more at me and this was the price I was paying now for all the taunts I made at him, so before he even said anything I told him if came to do just that then leave because I didn't care."

"Harry then told me he had not come to gloat or even make fun of me, but that he had some things I needed to know about my father's death that I should know of." Draco said sadly, "I scoffed at him and was thinking he seemed insane, but at the same time my gut told me to go see what Harry had to say even if it turned out to be nothing at all."

"I lead Draco to the room of requirement for our discussion." Harry said

Draco nodded in response, "Yeah, and that's really where this begins. Harry placed a kind of trust in me that I'd never experienced before; not even from Pansy or Blaise and they were who I considered my closest friends. Harry told me of the story of his parent murder from the betrayal of one friend and the imprisonment of another all orchestrated by an elderly headmaster in his chess game with this war."

"He told me of the significance of his scar Tom left on him and he showed me the event of his night of witnessing Tom's rebirth in the end of our Triwizard tournament. He then told me of what he had seen in his dreams during the extreme pain, which was in truth why he had been in the hospital wing rather than whatever the headmaster had told us all. Then he showed me the same events he had seen inside of his pensieve." Draco said

"It was in this moment I knew that my anger had been misplaced and I realized that I was about to join a cause I didn't want because of misleading information due to grief, anger and rage over everything around me." Draco said slowly as he felt McGonagall stare at him and Harry with wide eyes

"I told Draco he had options available to him." Harry said, "Draco decided in that moment he was not a pawn of the dark lord and decided to follow me. Ron and Hermione were not agreeable at first, but they have since come around and accepted Draco as one of us in a way."

Minerva chuckled, "I'm sure Ronald wasn't too thrilled about this to begin with at first?"

Harry laughed, "You're right he was not. However, surprisingly, it was Hermione who caused more headaches this time."

"How so?" Minerva queried curiously

"The usual things for her to say to me anyway in this situation I was involved into. It's not safe or do you have any idea that this could be a trap." Harry told them sarcastically

"Eventually they came around after questioning Draco's intentions. Draco willing had safeguarded all the secrets I told him initially to prove he wanted this friendship to work and yet my friends had been stubborn little wildcats and too blind to the big picture."

"Finally, I snapped at them and yelled on about how the sorting hat wished the houses would drop its prejudices to others and unite to survive the war and how their arguing against it was not showing progress of this and if they were so concerned for me even though no leaks of any of the things I told Draco had been spilled that perhaps they should just meet him when I went to talk to him later."

Draco smiled, "Keeping in mind that Harry and I had been continually meeting all last term during our shared lunch hour to plan a way to gain my houses's aid for Harry as Lord Peverell in the war and sharing stories of our childhoods and adventures here to the other."

"We figured that if the other Slytherin students saw Harry and I as friends first that their willingness to help him may come easier and it had in the end. My whole house, including myself, have sworn an old and traditional vow to stand beside Harry as Lord Peverell in the war and help him or to die trying."

Minerva was floored by this pronouncement as she had no idea and Severus had not even mentioned it to her or to the Order as far that went.

"However, Draco and my bond goes far beyond most of the rest of school." Harry said

"During Halloween last semester, Draco had wanted to hear of my childhood before I came here and back to our community. I told him, but at the cost of what I had believed to be our fragile friendship disintegrating."

"Instead he comforted me because I broke down. Halloween is typically trying for me due to it being the day my parents died for me. Draco and I discovered something though that day. Something neither of us ever would have expected from the other if we already had not amended our rivalry for the most part."

Draco smiled, "Harry and I discovered that we were soul-mates that day too."

Minerva's eyes widened as she lost the power speech.

"Minerva, we can continue our story another time but for now we have other thing that need addressed." Harry said as another elf came to take their plates away.

"Minerva, the prophecy foretells me being the only one being able to kill Riddle. You know this, but If I had not been given my inheritance early as I have been; I would have died a martyr to the madman." Harry said, "Albus knows that I will win now and he will allow me to kill Riddle. But for a man who sacrificed most of my clan to this war, what do think he intends to let me do after my job is done?" Harry asked her gravely

Minerva's brow quivered in thought rapidly to this as her brain now searched for an answer.

"Well, I can't imagine he'd try to outright kill you because the public would be in outrage and his reputation in shambles. I also don't think he would try to coerce you into vowing to leave and not come back because you are too aware of him now to notice this." She said

Harry nodded as Draco remained calm on the outside.

"I suppose he could try and convince the Ministry that although you killed Riddle; it was merely a grab of exchanged power for you from the former lord and that you aspire to be the next dark lord. Or perhaps…" She said with wide eyes and turned to Harry

Harry eyed her cautiously.

"Or perhaps he intends to lock and seal you away as a danger to our community." She whispered in a sad and fearful tone

Harry nodded, "Yes, that is what he intends to do if he manages to live long enough now to do it. His hand that has blackened is from one of Tom's seven horcruxes that maintains his soul's permanency here. It is fatal and he will die soon from it, but how soon I am uncertain."

"The high council cannot eliminate Albus or me because Tom fears us both for two different reasons. But the high lord and high councilor both want answers from the headmaster for his treasonous ways he has used my family's sacred knowledge for his own gain and his use of my family as sacrifices for his war let alone his own agenda."

"He wishes to seal me away because the headmaster is very aware I have much influence now within the Ministry and I can stop his agenda from coming to fruition. He knows I can stop him from corrupting our society beyond repair after the balance is semi-restored by Tom's defeat." Harry said, "However, Albus does not intend to use Azkaban or even Nurmengard as my holding place because he knows I am much too powerful now to be contained there. He intends to seal me in a place that has no chance of escape. He intends to use the forbidden magic of my family and to seal me in the Void." Harry said as his eyes hardened to ice at hers

Minerva was deathly pale now and oddly quiet as Draco was much the same. She had never known Albus was so dark inside like this. She had suspected he had dark secrets, whom he didn't want anyone to know of nowadays, but to have things like this was beyond her imagining.

Minerva gave a hard glance to Harry, "Lily's trust in me will not be in vain Lord Peverell, this I promise you. I will fight by you even if I don't survive this time. At least my help will aid towards a better future for our new generations ahead." She said sternly as she went to her desk and opened the top drawer of her desk. The drawer had a hidden compartment in it that only opened to her animagus tabby cat form scratching a particular indent in the inside with one claw. Once done, Minerva took the items inside and closed her desk up again briskly.

Harry and Draco walked over to her and she turned them with seriousness written about her features.

"Lord Peverell, as the last of your clan I am entrusting this to you and praying you will keep it safe as much as you keep Draco safe now. This key is the key to the ancestral Peverell vault and the key Albus has looked long and hard for even though I never knew why truly. I just felt it was not safe to give it to him and so I did not over these years."

"If either he or Tom manage to get this from you; we are doomed. The magical knowledge in that vault is forbidden for good reason and only you should be able to truly master it as you are the only true Peverell descendant left, Harry." Minerva told them, "That includes the knowledge of the Void and how it is done. I may have read it, but I never desired using it. I made my blood cold to even think about."

They nodded as they smiled for her support to them in this dire time of need.

"Minerva, I have a request of you?" Harry asked

She nodded.

"Please set up a time where I can meet Filius to discuss matters concerning the Potter Estate and my mother's laboratory there for next week. We need to arrive the same way we did this time, so perhaps you could invite a friend for tea and lunch?" Harry asked of her

Minerva nodded, "I can do that, but how do I reply to you the date?"

Harry handed her a slip of paper as he made Draco and himself disappear in the wave of his hand and leaving a stunned but very happy professor behind them.

"My, my how you have grown Harry. Your parents are smiling on you for sure and I know Lily is still protecting you in any way she can because her kindness and honesty to others still shines in you." Minerva whispered to herself as she retreated to do some planning.


	18. Chapter XV: A Momentary Break

**A/N: I am warning you all now that if you don't like foul-language, slash (guy X guy) sex scenes, semi-violent sex and other disconcerting readable topics to turn away now and to stop reading and wait for the next chapter to be released. I made quite clear in the disclaimer within my profile page that my stories will at times be NC-17 in nature and if you flame me, I will ignore it regardless to whatever it has to say. I may read it just to humor myself from the comments in it, but I will not respond in any form unless absolutely necessary due to remarks made.**

**Chapter XV****: **_A Momentary Break_

"Oh yes, harder." Draco panted

Harry was giving Draco the reward he had been on the deserving end of after his stunt with the moment before they went to meet Minerva a few days ago. Some would have called the act more of a punishment if they noticed the slight marks on Draco's skin that had drawn blood and seemed to be oozing it, but neither mate was too concerned about them as they knew they'd heal easily from it.

Draco meanwhile, was in total bliss as he sat atop Harry's hips and they ground together. Sweat poured off both of them and the feel of their skin licking each other's as they thrusted rhythmically in sync made them both pant heavily.

The dark elf who was so in control of his emotions now had let go and lost control when they arrived back at the villa and Draco had been prepared for a long night or perhaps two, but nearly a week like this…no, he hadn't prepared for that even if he didn't mind at all.

Harry's sexual appetite as a dark elf was more than Draco had anticipated and now he knew exactly why these dark elves were highly sought after mates. Their urges for sexual satisfaction with their mates are very intense and the receiver of the attention spent days in bliss until the urge wore off unless it was mating season when urges were more rampant than normal. Veela had an allure and small urges, but nothing compared to this.

Draco had spent most of the last week in the master bedroom alone with Harry and they literally fucked each other's brains out until they were spent and needed food, a bath or sleep. Draco and Harry were content to stay like this, but apparently the outside world was not and that it had bad timing.

Just as Harry thrust into Draco for the last time and his seed entered his body while Draco's head rolled back and he arced to the touch as his orgasm spilled over; the bedroom door was flung wide open in haste. Harry's eyes shined with a dangerous green color as he flipped them over and Draco was behind him after he pulled out of his mate's body. His power flared dangerously around at whoever dared to interrupt this time with his mate.

Sadly, the person on the receiving end of the power blast was Severus who had come hastily to warn Harry only to retreat before he endangered himself with wide eyes and a half-open mouth in shock.

Draco circled his arms around Harry from behind and soothed his angered mate now who looked as if he was ready to kill Severus for his intrusion.

"Harry, calm down. I'm safe and so are you. Severus didn't mean to walk in on us as he looked as if he had bad news when stormed in here." Draco said softly

Harry's breathing was still ragged with anger, "No one dares to do that to Lord Peverell without consequences, Draco. Time with my mate is precious during the war and now it was intruded upon emergency or not." He said

Draco smiled, "I understand Harry, but we also can't kill him because he is our informant on the other side, you know."

Harry's brain seemed to regain coherency at this, "Damn it." He muttered

Harry then smirked and thought of a really evil punishment for Severus whilst he was pleased with the outcome of it as well.

"Stay here Draco until I come back for you and when I do, please have a robe of some kind on but not full clothes." Harry smirked at him

Draco seemed confused for a moment until he put two and two together and smirked as well.

"Alright, I'll wait but don't be too hard on Severus as it was an accident. I just wish I would get to see his face when he realizes what is going on." Draco said

Harry smirked to that as he put on the black silk dressing robe and went out to the living area.

* * *

Severus was currently sitting in the aforementioned living area and trying not to look as though his world had been turned upside down by the fact Draco was literally sexually active and so was Harry and that they really were fucking the other senseless moments ago in front of him.

To him the world ended because with the war he wondered where they would have learned all that with their training and responsibilities. No matter, it had happened somehow and if he wanted to live much longer, he'd better be more careful if Harry's anger was anything to go by.

Draco was his godson and still a child by his eyes and Harry, well...he was Lily and James's only child and Severus considered him like a son even if he didn't know it. Now the two were mated, basically married and adults to their world, and his mind was going haywire at what he had just witnessed.

Harry strolled in the living area calmly and Severus tensed slightly. That didn't bode well for him and he knew it.

Harry then sat across from him and silently placed an advanced sticking charm on Severus so he couldn't get up. It was not permanent, just troublesome since Severus had no idea it was there or which incantation Harry had used to begin to remove it.

"Lord Peverell." Severus said slowly and in a deferential manner that sounded shocked still

Harry eyed this behavior as odd since he well knew Severus did not bow to the son of his arch-rival James Potter at all.

"Look at me Severus." Harry said firmly

Slowly Severus brought his gaze to meet Harry's and saw the underlying anger in it and cringed internally.

"Severus, I may be James Potter's son who was your worst enemy in school, and I may be twenty or slightly more years younger than you; however, I am still Lord Peverell and therefore my station is that of one that is above you and it always will be and you know this."

"Draco is my mate and I am a dark elf. You should be well aware of the urges we have from '_personal experience'_" Harry said with a tone as Severus shivered in awkwardness to this situation

"Time with my mate is precious, especially so since we are at war and you have now intruded on our time together. Emergency or not, you should have known to knock at least as it would be polite and have shown us more courtesy then having barged in."

Severus looked downward again as his head hid his shame from the scenario he was almost reliving in some ways.

"So, regardless of whatever your message is right now; you will wait here until Draco and I are dressed and come out here to join you, understood?" Harry asked icily

Severus nodded while his face was down still and Harry seemed to accept it in knowing Severus was humiliated enough as it was. The lord did not want to test his boundaries in how far he could push Severus yet, so he let the non-verbal answer slide this time.

* * *

Harry re-entered the bedroom with a smirk on his face and a look that said I am quite pleased with myself and Draco knew he had missed a very good tongue-lashing Severus endured from his mate.

"So my very sexy lord, what has Severus decided he was doing when he walked in on us and interrupted us?" Draco's eyes glazed over at Harry and his words were no more than a seductive whisper as he approached Harry nude and paraded his body before as his allure leaked out for him to feel only until he draped his arms around his neck and gently bit the juncture between his neck and his shoulder blade

Harry's eyes began to shine again, but this time from his lust for his mate's body. His penis was easily starting to harden from the words of his mate and even more as his body was displayed in such a manner for him alone to see.

Draco smirked seductively as his veela fangs poked through it, "I think he deserves a lesson in knowing when to knock, don't you?"

Draco's hands had wandered beneath Harry's dressing robe and had latched onto his very erect member that was leaking already. The blonde's thumb ghosted over the edge of the tip and Harry barely managed to hold back a moan of desire.

"I think you are right, my gorgeous mate, so since he has no idea he has been silently laced with an advanced sticking charm to our couch…why don't we show him exactly why you knock when you come here." Harry's voice huskily rasped at his mate as his emerald eyes now shined bright with desire and power at him.

Draco's grey eyes were much the same as he nodded with a smirk, "Lead the way, my lord."

Harry's eyes glazed to that and then he grabbed Draco by hoisting him easily over his shoulder with a hard smack to his ass for that as he knew the meaning of it. Draco moaned to the smack and knew he wanted his ass to sting when they were done and for his godfather to be as red as a tomato in the face when they returned.

His cock was leaking too and he would be satiated if it was the last thing they would do together.

* * *

Severus meanwhile was sitting on the couch in silence and was reflecting about the last time something of this nature had occurred to him. This was during the first war after James and Lily had married but before she had become pregnant with Harry. Severus smirked to himself, 'If only Harry knew' he thought quietly with an amused smirk on his lips

Severus had been spying for Albus for at least two months now and had come to warn James and Lily that Pettigrew may have been the spy since he had recognized his voice at an initiation meeting.

However, things had gone horribly wrong when he entered the house and just like here, their bedroom. James had Lily in the doggy-style position and they had just finished when he had intruded on them. James was irate and Lily had needed to severely calm him down or else he likely would be dead because of knowing of James's hatred at him.

James had not tried to talk calmly though, as when he came back out in his dressing robe; he had sent a rather nasty stinging hex at Severus and due to being totally caught off guard; it hit him and he fled in fear of death.

From what Severus heard from Remus who played messenger between them all at this time, Lily had berated him for doing it and it was much later he revealed why he came to the house as it was. The marauder group, or the true three people in it, had been careful around Peter for many months to come after this. Not even a month later from the ordeal though, Lily knew she was pregnant and the dangers had risen for them considerably since Severus's message was too late by then for a warning as the dark lord knew of her pregnancy by the time he had mentioned it.

Until Albus convinced them it was unlikely he would join such a cause with friends like his. Severus snorted to this in hindsight. Everyone was capable of jealousy and Peter was jealous of James and Sirius for their skill and power at school. They had also been popular while he had been associated to them but still considered a nobody to most of the school and not worth their time.

Pettigrew was not much of a wizard in power or skills as a school kid and until he joined his lord and their master taught him dark magic personally since he was close to James's family did he really have any true skill or power at his disposal at all.

'Look where we are now, and maybe partially from this mess I made with that incident and not seeing Albus's agenda in time? Lily, James, and Sirius are dead whilst Remus is dying slowly of depression without Sirius as his mate here for him now despite his obligations to Harry as his secondary godfather. Pettigrew is still alive and at his master's side whilst James's son is now a Lord and battling a war mostly on his own since we adults were too scared to fight to prevent this from happening in the first place and doing well for himself in all respects due to the shenanigans our community has put out towards him over the years.'

'The media has hounded him several times and I doubt they will leave him alone after they know he is a lord. The stupid tournament did him no favors either and now Draco will be in the target-zone too as his mate. At least I know they will be able to deal with this now on their own.'

Severus sighed as he was brought out of his memories and then startled as he heard a shower start now.

* * *

Harry and Draco had entered the shower together as Severus had just finished his reminiscence of the semi-recent past.

"Draco, I want you so bad." Harry said as his voice rasped in desire

Draco smirked, "Patience Harry, you have had your fun so now it is time I had my own with you. When I am done you can have me all you want."

Draco's talon-clad fingers gripped his cock and yanked on it in a way that made sure his lord understood his mate's needs.

Harry's eyes were a lustrous deep green now as the sharp claw put pressure on his erection and he bucked in need to Draco and hissed at him to stop torturing him. Draco smiled now as his lips then ghosted his left nipple and the sucked hard as he licked the rim of it.

Harry arced into the touch in want and need of more from that sinful mouth of his mate's.

Draco did much the same to the other before he travelled lower to his belly-button and teased it with his tongue. Harry was panting heavily from his mate doing this to him and trying not to flip them over and lose control.

Draco's clawed fingers from his more veela form was not helping matters, as both liked a little pain with their pleasure and his claws had a nice hold of his sac and was rubbing it with a teasing sensation.

Draco kept shimmying down though and torturing Harry's body with small amounts of friction and feelings he was not totally used to having on him. When he reached the nest of black curls that hovered over his prize, he stuck his nose in them and breathed deeply to that heavenly musky scent of his mate's arousal and the blonde's mouth watered in want.

Harry had just about come to coherency again when Draco engulfed him and wet heat was around his cock. Harry yelled in desire as Draco teased the vein on the underside and then the tip as he tasted his mate's essence.

Draco's claws had now moved to his lord and mate's hips to prevent him from thrusting too deeply into his throat as he sucked hard on him. Harry looked down at Draco and his mate eyed him from the corner with a smile at the corners of his lips.

Harry moaned. Draco had his dick in his mouth and was sucking on it as if he was having the best round of ice cream in the world. The sight was too much and sent him over the edge.

Draco anticipated that and readied himself for the orgasm from his mate. A warm and wet rush suddenly filled his mouth. It was salty and tangy, but not unpleasant in the least.

Draco noticed however, that even though he had been satisfied now; his mate had not as he already began to harden. Harry then pushed Draco against the wall of the shower hard as his mouth claimed his lips fully and proved who owned who in this relationship as Draco immediately let himself be tongue fucked by Harry.

The kiss was heated and the hot water around them made it seem as if steam would form due to their already flaming body temperatures from their actions earlier. When they let go of the other's mouth Harry rammed into Draco hard as the blonde veela yelled in pleasure to the hard rod that was just shoved into him. He was going to be sore now and he was going to love it.

Meanwhile, outside the thin walls of the bath area, Severus was sitting on the sofa and didn't know whether to feel amused that the two thought they could embarrass him with something like this or insulted that they thought they could. Either way though, it was rather disconcerting to hear the two going at it when you considered both like adopted sons.

Draco moaned in desire, "Oh yes, harder Harry. Faster!" Draco growled at him

Harry snapped with a semi-growl right back as his pace increased three-fold and his cock literally was pounding his mate's ass at inhuman speed.

The raven haired lord's eyes had gone from deep green to entirely black with desire and his body rippled at a pace no one but Draco likely could have handled. Power was flaring from the two and emanating from the bathroom outwards around them.

Harry then nipped at Draco's neck hard as the blond screamed in ecstasy but did not come and then Harry did something he had not before. He may not have even noticed he was doing it.

"Draco, I am ssso glad that you arrre miiine." He hissed at the blonde

Draco's eyes glazed further as he intently watched his mate as he spoke. The parseltongue was so alluring and he wanted more of it.

"I willll neverrr let you go." He hissed as his penis thrust hard into him and Draco met him just as hard back with thrusts.

"God Harry, you are so sexy when you speak like that. I'll never be able to look at a shower the same again." Draco breathed as he panted

"Telllll me Draco, what do you want frrrromm me?" Harry hissed seductively in his ear as his eyes gleamed

Draco moaned, "I want you to fuck me so hard that my ass is raw and I won't sit tomorrow. I want you to pound that cock in so many times that I know you own me. I want you rip my cheeks apart with that glorious cock and fill me up so I feel whole again." He screamed at him

Harry smirked, "Very well, my dear mate, I believe you are going to get exactly what you wisssshed for."

Then suddenly from the already inhuman pace, Harry started thrusting and gyrating his hips so fast Draco could barely keep up but he managed and knew his ass was definitely gonna be raw in the morning.

Outside the walls of the bath, Severus had started to feel the power leak from them and knew why now Harry had reacted in such a way to him. Not only had he intruded on his time with Draco as his only mate, which was punishable by death in his homeland and seen as a crime, he had also invaded during a severe urge he had suppressed.

That made more sense now, but Severus was now red as he kept listening to them no matter how hard he had tried to deny and ignore. The things those boys said to the other when alone and the things he could hear from the other room would make even a veteran sailor turn cherry-colored in the face.

"Harry, don't you dare slow down. You had better fuck me like you mean it or else you will not be getting any for a month, I swear to you." Draco growled and threatened him when he appeared to slow

Harry smirked, "Don't worry Draco, "I'm not slowing down just re-positioning myself slightly."

Then the next sounds were just Draco yelling all the curse words he knew in every foreign language he could think of as Harry had aligned with his prostate and was nailing it to his ass cheeks with proficient speed as the blonde panted and water ran over them

Draco's head rolled back in pure pleasure and he could barely even moan a word now. His dick was sorely feeling left out so he reached for it until his hands had been magically sealed over his head and to the wall as Harry smirked at him.

"Naughty, naughty my little veela minx? You should know better by now that I touch first then you can, or have you forgotten and need another punishment?" Harry said to him loud enough for Severus to hear

Draco moaned and whimpered now, "Please Harry, touch me or else I might shrivel up right now."

Draco's erection was very strained and a deep red-purple color while the head was literally dripping his essence on him like a river that had flooded over the dam built to keep floods out.

Harry smiled now and one hand reached to touch Draco's very swollen penis as the other held his hips in place. Harry ran the hand up and down the massive length and his slightly sharpened fingernails grazed the skin as Draco hissed in pleasure.

"Doessss thisss feel goooddd, Draco" Harry hissed at him as the nails drew blood slightly now

"Oh holy Merlin, if there is a god, you just gave it to me." Draco exclaimed as his eyed snapped wide in pleasure and he bucked to the thrusts of Harry's iron rod of a cock deep in him and the hands that made his skin sizzle in pleased heat.

"Fuck me Harry and I mean rip me raw." Draco yelled

* * *

It was not much longer after this that Harry had quite completely spread Draco so apart he knew his mate would be sore for some time after they exploded in climax together. Harry's urge had been satiated and Draco was seemingly smoldering in his aura because his veela side was quite happy now and the allure was in full effect. Draco was not walking oddly, so Severus assumed they either healed faster than others naturally due to abilities or Harry had given Draco a potion for it and another to keep aches away for flexibility.

He had assumed this because when they returned to living area dressed in emergency combat robes the professor knew they were going to join the fight regardless of what he said on the matter. The combat robes were custom-made and very well done, but also ones that left nothing to the imagination of the other's body if one dared to glance at either wizard in them at all, and Severus lowered his head in redness and embarrassment.

The two smirked at this as this was just what they wanted to occur. Severus had to realize they were no longer his students even if they did still go to school and that they were also adults. They were way beyond Hogwarts level, but would have to play nice in another two weeks or so unless a fight came to them.

"So, you said we have an emergency on hand and one I assume needs combat help by the state you used to come in here by, so here we are and let us in on the inside details so we can help in any way we are able to." Harry said calmly as if he had not been having sex at all just before

Severus thought to himself that if he survived the war that he may not survive those two.

"Riddle had decided to raid the museum of magical objects throughout history, and the one in particular that is nearest to the Hollow where you were born. I believe he's after any books there and several other objects used for detection and stealth. Currently the battle is in his favor due to an unforeseen ally of his coming into play now. The order stands no chance against an army of vampires and they know it." Severus said sternly to Harry who got the message loud and clear by the tone

"The vampires fear the dark elves due to the many wars they lost to them here in Britain and to your clan alone, Harry. Now is the time to make yourself known and to let the world know you won't back down."

Harry's eyes hardened, "I know of only one vampire clan in all of Britain that would be stupid enough to join Voldemort when they know I'm his worst enemy because they'd love to see me die."

"It's Linwe Yavetil, isn't it?" he asked calmly

Severus nodded grimly, "Yes, and she desires revenge for the death of her mate that James killed during the last battle he fought before his death at her new master's hands."

"I see." Harry said as he stood confidently, "Well, if Yavetil thinks she can defeat me even with Tom's help; she really messed with the wrong wizard. I am going to kill her for the pain she inflicted on my grandparents even if I never knew them personally." He said icily

"Be careful Harry, Yavetil seemed to have some new strange magic around her and it was certainly not vampiric by nature." Severus warned, "You and Draco will need to exercise extreme caution around her if you wish to deal with Natalia Eruiyna later on."

Harry nodded as Draco stood beside him, "Duly noted. Thank you, but we need to prepare if we are to truly reveal our true forms for the world to see."

Harry then closed his eyes and his magic swirled as Draco did the same thing. Harry's rounded ears became pointed and his eyes intensity of green deepened. His hair lengthened to his mid back and now had silver tips at the ends to prove his mating to Draco. His body shifted some to a taller form and his physique to one that others associated mainly to that of perhaps Adonis or some of the other gods.

The mark of the Peverell clan was just barely visible under the combat robes to identify he was who said he was. On his right shoulder, there was an image on his skin similar to the dark mark but more like a tattoo. It showed a sword with blue-black flame on the bladed part. Within the flames was a serpent wrapped around the sword with fangs barred and ready to strike.

This was the insignia of the Peverell clan. The clan who had more dark history than any other in all of Great Britain and the clan whose last survivor was their community's last hope for the war to end.

Draco like-wise had changed, but his change was slightly different. Draco's normal short and gelled platinum locks were now nearly as long as Harry's own and tipped with black at the ends. His eyes had changed from a dull grey to one of liquid silver and fangs slightly protrude from his mouth whilst talons formed on his hands and his wings broke through.

The wings were pure white with black tips like his hair except for the silver streaks in the wings too that his hair did not have. The Peverell mark was also on Draco's left shoulder and barely visible. Demonic mythology would have assessed these marks to those of normal mating marks between clans. This mark, however, seemed normal but was far from it and Severus could tell just by looking at it.

"Are you sure the outside world is ready for this, Severus?" Harry asked as their energies retreated.

Severus stared in awe and wonder of the powers they possessed before he nodded in a positive way.

"They are ready because Riddle is now more active than ever and we need someone to help us if we are to survive this war. I know I never said this before Harry, but I am honored to have had you in my life and I feel blessed that Lily knew her son would be alright. I understand now why she did not fear her and James dying even if they had been betrayed. It was because she knew you would prevail, Lord Peverell." Severus said as he formally bowed before Harry in respect.

Harry smiled now and inclined his head. Draco and Harry both pulled their long hair into a high pony-tail that made them both look more intense than before. The sound of apparition was heard and then they were gone. Severus smiled and knew the gods smiled on them when they had chosen Harry to be their savior and even more so when they chose Draco to be his mate.


	19. Author's Note

I would like to take a moment and answer two of the personal message questions I have received several times with the last few chapters to eliminate confusion and clear up some lingering questions behind this.

Q: Harry and Draco have both a more human appearance and then their creature forms, right? So, why do they seem to hide the creature one after the train station battle? Isn't that a little confusing?

…To this question, I applaud your observation skills and think that perhaps I have been slightly less clear on it than I should have been. Maybe when the story is done I'll go back over it and clean it up a bit.

Yes, Harry and Draco have a human form and their creature forms. They are interchangeable and it does not take much magical energy to do, just time. The human form will only last for certain amount of time now though before they are forced to live in their true appearance each day whether they like it or not. For us the equivalent would be having a set of clothes we really like and decide to wear for the day.

Then we end up in some situation where we utterly ruin it, so we have to go and change it while we dispose of the ruined clothes.

However, try to remember that Harry has truly only shown his true elven form to a few students at school as well as a couple professors. The mass majority of the school, ministry, staff of Hogwarts and their community have not seen him like that, so they are unaware he has truly changed in appearance at all.

Draco has only ever shown Harry his true self in full except during his outburst when Narcissa died.

The battle at the station was slightly off in description as I re-read through it. They did show a lot of the new appearance, more than I anticipated...but keep in mind that the changes are interchangeable. Harry and Draco from what I should have written had only exposed physical attributes in small ways and a show of much increased power.

However, I failed there and I apologize.

Q: Harry and Draco are so out of their character, and maybe it is due to the way they've changed to help deal with their new forms, but how did they get so trained if we haven't read any training parts?

A good question…true, I have not written any chapters where it has shown the two training together so their abilities seem unrealistic and out of character for the roles they play here.

The answer to it is rather simple if one carefully reads the beginning chapters.

Harry's inheritance changed him by force due to his bad experiences at Number Four, thus catapulting Draco's early as well so they would be able to relate mentally due to their true age. When most think of training, they assume something of a strict regimen.

Harry never really mentions all the details in one go of his inheritance as that was done over the course of many chapters, but in reality, training for them is more just like knowing an incantation and doing it over and over until they managed it.

Most of the special abilities are inbred and will work because they are genetic or are granted through mating. Most would not require a difficult training to wield unless the body rejected the gift or the person's mate was not used to having such a power in their blood. Harry and Draco are both pureblood in this and their lineages are ancient, so all their special abilities do not require massive training as both clan's have mated others through the centuries and have had innumerable types of powers become one with their family's blood.

I will say that Harry and Draco do have one special ability a piece that has not shown yet, and this will require training to handle though.


	20. Chapter XVI: A New Lord Emerges

**Chapter XVI: _A New Lord Emerges_**

When Harry and Draco arrived to their battlefield, the sight that had been waiting for them was horrendous and unlike any other battle they had been a part of since the beginning of winter break. Most had been small raidsor shuffles, but this was beyond that and what Draco had ever seen thus far. The villagers were scattered about, running from death eaters and vampires alike as other enemies burned down houses and left the Morsemorde hovering like clouds of plague in their wake as ash piles littered the ground covered with red snow beneath them. There was no one leading the actions being taken against them on sight yet and the women who were unable to fight and children who needed away from the scene as well as any of the men in the same situation were helpless to know where to go or who even to go to.

But one thing was for certain and they had noticed it; their arrival to the scene had not been missed as several village women saw them and looked at them as if they'd been saved because their eyes lit like lights of colored hope and one of the ladies slowly came to them with tears in her eyes and a sad smile.

"You've come to help us and the others who came to escape, right? The others who arrived first were no match for the vampires and most of us are dead now. The death eaters could have been handled by them if not for the vampires. Please, if you can help us in any way and have mercy on us; we would compensate you somehow after this nightmare is over?" She asked desperately

Harry kneeled before the poor woman who was shaking from grief and tears and now kneeling on the could ground as she smiled sadly to him and the new lord gave her a soft and sad smile, "Who was in charge here before the attack began in full force?" He asked

She seemed to break at this, "My husband Lord Grishwell." She whispered

Harry nodded, "I am sorry for your loss and he will be avenged Lady Grishwell, but we are here to help and we don't ask for payment of any kind. Your village will need all the resources it has to reconstruct and resupply all who may survive this ordeal."

The lady smiled sadly though she was happily shocked by that news, "W-who are you?" she whispered

Harry smiled, "I am known in our world by many titles throughout recent history, but most know me as Harry James Potter." He said, "Though I come here with the name of Lord Peverell to fight for what my clan has fought to keep for so long."

The lady's eyes widened before she bowed and kneeled before her lord, "Lord Peverell, I didn't know. I'm sorry."

"You need not bow to me my dear, as we have a battle to win and a village to reclaim. Are you injured or can you still fight?"

She shook her head, "No milord, I am well and able to continue fighting if you wish."

"I wish you to find any remaining survivors and take them to the old Potter manor near here. Keep the survivors safe and unharmed as much as possible without causing too much of a scene. If there are injuries that need tended on anyone there, tend to them as best as able with those who survived and can handle it until either myself or my mate arrive to aid you. Understood?" He asked her

She formed a determined look about, "Understood milord."

"Then make haste as we have not a lot of time before vampires start to hunt for blood during the dark night hours. I will not let it come to that if I am able to. Linwe Yavetil will pay for breaking her agreement to my clan if it is the last thing she ever did in her own eternally miserable life." Harry said with a stern face

The woman seemed to see he was serious and filled with hopeful satisfaction before she left with the two others she had with her in a hurry as Draco rushed behind him and kept up to his pace as they raced through the village. They needed to find the other Order members and Ministry aurors, if any were left at all, and help them immediately because he could clearly see many of them had no idea how to even kill a vampire except two or perhaps three of them.

Harry held the sword of the first lord Peverell in his hands, and the villagers saw his skill and watched in awe as they fled while he and his mate alone battled the vampires alone one by one cutting them down like they were nothing to them, and for the first time in many centuries; the sword of his clan had new blood on it and it felt good.

Along their way, Harry and Draco had removed nearly three dozen vampires by themselves between them a piece, or rather seventy-two vampires total, and the death eaters who had felt the power of the two had started to worry about their mission there as quite a few of their own were falling to the new lord as his chosen and overall the raid was fading faster than anticipated due to their unforeseen skill and arrival.

Word of their skills and whispers of who they were had rapidly spread through the village of the two and it had reached the remaining Order members whom had come to fight and the few aurors from the ministry on requested aid.

The two lone warriors had found them easily enough although they were covered in vampire and death eater blood emitting large amounts of their auras in the area as they approached to give a warning sign of their arrival.

Alastor Moody gazed at them together, particularly at Harry for a silent moment after he had looked Draco over and as he reflected the image of his likeness to his father James. The man who he had trained in person as an auror with Sirius, and now his son held the mantle of the war and held it well. He lowered his head in respect to his chosen new leader as a sign of acknowledgement.

"Lord Peverell, it is true after all that you have emerged. We are blessed as the vampires are more of a match than we thought though you seem to have no trouble taking down the disgusting filth as usual." He said casually with a laughing undertone

Harry smiled to him easily, "Alastor Moody, you of all people should know dark elves loathe vampires for their own reasons and their Lordess Linwe Yavetil is certainly not very smart if she thinks she can beat me even when I am the last Lord Peverell for the time being."

"I have no compunction about shedding her coven's blood over my hands before her until she's left with nothing and I see her eyes die out when she is run through either with a sword, stake, or killed by dark magic."

The air in the camp had dropped ten degrees to this pronouncement as they saw Harry was no longer the sweet and gentle boy they thought they knew.

"I also have no problem killing any death eater that tries to attack me. It's their fault if they think they can beat me when in reality; only my 'supposed cousin can kill me for real in the end of this." Harry said icily

Alastor smirked, "Vey true Harry, very true since I believe James said something similar about vampires just before he annihilated her mate when they tried to take over Brookemoore Fort and had murdered nearly everyone there until he came to the sight and wiped a third of her coven from the earth with her mate included by himself until back-up arrived."

The rest of the Order members gasped in shock. This was truly the new version of Harry Potter as an adult, a new lord, and veteran soldier to the dark lord's battles. Now he was the Lord Peverell they had heard of and they couldn't have been more grateful.

"Well, first thing is first. If you don't have the capacity to handle dark magic or the stomach to dole it out; I suggest helping the villagers who are left in getting to safety with Lady Grishwell and two other village women, who I met just prior to being here."

Most of them nodded, but others scowled as they did not wish to be ordered around by a sixteen year old lord who had no battle experience. This was thought of even if the blood on him said otherwise and also about his mate as well.

"Those of you who can handle dark magic, we will need it as this is the only way besides certain types of physical wounds to kill off a vampire, such as sword or stake wounds. Elemental spell are risky as certain vampires are immune to different elements, so I advise caution. Even using fire or sunlight is risky, so be sure to have back-up plans if you do use element magic. Spells that drain magic and cause their bloodlust to form are effective if carefully used as well since bloodlust makes them less accurate in their movements and less agile. Defensive maneuvers would contain shields that protect the mind from intrusion due to the types of vampiric magic that is similiar to our version of Legilimency. Barriers that also keep low level magic from hitting you are well-advised."

"Yavetil's clan has been an enemy of my own clan for centuries and if you think I am lying to you or I said this to make myself sound smart; think again. Most of you here are order members I barely know besides Alastor, Kingsley Shacklebolt, and Nymphadora Tonks or you are Ministry members who think I am an innocent boy hero and too soft-touched to kill anything. I am no longer the child you thought you knew before and I will kill a vampire if it even dares to approach me."

"However, I will state right here and right now that my inheritance came early for the first time in over 600 years in our clan. I am Lord Peverell, and if you think I have no battle experience, then you will be highly disappointed." He said firmly, "The blood on my battle robes is proof that blood of 36 vampires was shed before I came here and I killed before I arrived. It's on my robes and on my armor that is invisible right now and it is real enough as evidence."

"I have been training since my inheritance and so has my mate who is beside me right now. If you think you can fool us, you are stupid. This is a war and we are fighting to survive for our lives here, so stupidity and arrogance will not be tolerated. Not only are our senses superior to every human here now, but our magical skills are well beyond school levels even if we don't exploit them often. I dare anyone to test the boundary if they think I lied and they will be sorry because I will kick their ass to kingdom come if they do." Harry glared around the camp as if to prove his point

"As said before, we are at war and there is no time for mercy now to anyone who attacks us, and if my destiny is to be fulfilled; I need as many of Riddle's allies and followers dead as possible before the last battle so there is less to contend with when it reaches there." Harry said and many there shivered.

Those who had no talent for dark magic left and did as Lord Peverell ordered them without complaints or arguments because his words had reached all there deeply. The offensive and defensive units were divided now into four teams. Harry leading one, Draco the second, Alastor the third, and finally Kingsley had led the final one.

Harry looked at his mate, "Come back safely."

Draco smiled softly, "Same to you."

* * *

Then the real fighting began as Harry and Draco's auras were let out in full and the groups took to four different areas. Those in the teams now knew why he had warned them and desired not to be on his bad side or that of his mate's.

The power they emitted was astounding. The waves of it rippled and vibrated around them all as if it acted like a shield of some kind for them and no one wanted to leave its vicinity. The two acted as though they had seen ages of fighting and worked in sync like needle and thread together. It was a refreshing and invigorating sight to behold with hope so low before.

The vampires and death eaters knew now they were out matched with those two new add-ons to the fight as nearly seventy more fell in less than an hour along with nearly two hundred death eaters; mostly those of the outer circle, so someone went to summon their lord and the vampire Lordess Yavetil to the fight for help.

"Tonks, watch out." Harry yelled to her from behind

The pink haired auror snapped her head and then sent another killing curse at the offending vampire that had just tried to behead her.

She smiled, "Wotcher Harry, and thanks."

Harry sighed, "Pay attention Tonks, as this is no time to be thankful because we aren't out of this alive yet to tell the tale."

She hardened her gaze as something in her made her realize Harry was right. They weren't done here and unless she was alive at the end of this; she should not offer thanks to him yet though he had just saved her life.

He had after all been fighting much longer than she had against these lunatics and from a much younger age without understanding truly why he had to at first and now she saw the strength in the young lord he had become. His moves were agile, graceful and deadly with each vampire he took down much like his proclaimed mate's step. They had a hard gaze as they assessed each situation carefully before moving but also doing it quickly. He was born into his heritage well and he was ready to fulfill his destiny now.

Her eyes watered slightly as she continued fighting to help him in the end, 'Sirius cousin, I bet you and Uncle James are so proud of him and to know he can fight on his own now without relying on us all the time for back-up. Auntie Lily, your son is the most amazing boy I have ever met and I feel blessed to have made friends with him. Please, if you hear me tonight; keep on protecting him and his mate with your love as it shows in him.' She thought to herself as she sliced through two more vampires in half with an advanced cutting hex.

That was when it happened and she saw Harry grip his forehead in pain after he killed the vampires that had surrounded him and was brought to his knees by it. She ran to him and asked if he needed help. He shook his head, "He's here and he's not alone either." Harry said tightly

Tonk's face paled considerably as Harry stood and flared his aura warning the others to find him immediately. It took no less than six minutes for the other three companies to reconvene with him and they noticed his faced was pained in expression.

Harry had turned from the crowd near him as he tried to shield them from his evident pain. Draco immediately went him and dropped to his knees before him, "Harry, what's happened? Are you alright?" He asked as the others wondered who this blonde was that Harry claimed to be his mate.

"He's here now with Yavetil, but their magic is different than on the platform from the apparition barrier. Can you not feel it as I do? It make my blood feel like ice inside…" Harry asked quietly as a whisper and his eyes held a small fear in them for the first time Draco had ever seen it and knew it truly bothered Harry

Draco leant his shoulder to Harry and helped him up as they walked a ways from the crowd who stared at him a moment then turned away.

Draco closed his eyes momentarily to sense the magic Harry seemed to have felt before and then the mercury orbs snapped wide in shock and fear at what they had done to themselves for this attack and the sake of winning the war.

"Harry, Tom has dabbled in demonic magic and I would bet Yavetil is the one who pointed him there to begin with as he wouldn't have had a clue where to find it. It's old from the pureblood lineages that mated with different magical beings and he would have had to have done this to do it unless informed of it by another without repercussions."

Draco dropped to sit next to him, "You and I know this, and we will need to use our own creature abilities to counter-attack them as hiding it and using our normal human pace would get us killed?" Draco said softly, "Are you going to be able to combat them or will his horcrux's pain interfere with you combat skills?"

Harry nodded, "Yes I will be fine to fight, but the shard of his soul inside of me when he arrived flared painfully to announce his arrival to me as it always has in past and I was taken by surprise. Yavetil's energy was mixed in it too and so I figure she's with him wherever the two are. Are the villager's safe for those who remain here from this place?"

Draco smiled, "They are. Lady Grishwell is a formidable witch and I had the pleasure of seeing her combat style first-hand at one point. The manor is in good state so it hold them for now if we can end this here."

"Good." Harry said with a sigh of relief

Harry stood and Draco walked with him to the rest as they stared to the floor a moment then Harry raised his head with a sigh, "The Dark Lord has arrived on scene with Lordess Linwe Yavetil herself. Their energies have changed badly from the last fight I had with him at the train station."

"I don't want any more deaths to occur than there has to be, so no stunts of heroism out there from anyone tonight. I will meet my 'supposed' cousin on the field as my mate will confront Yavetil for personal reasons to my clan as they are expecting us to do so. I want the rest of the four teams to keep the others at bay whilst we fight and if the fight becomes too much for you to handle…to get yourselves to somewhere safe. You could go to the manor my family has here that shelters the remaining survivors." Harry said softly

Alastor protested, "Harry, you know you cannot go in there with just your mate for those two dirtbags. It's suicide and stupid."

Harry glared at the former head auror, "Damn it Alastor, I don't need this right now when we are on the verge of victory here. I will combat my 'cousin' and if I feel too endangered we will retreat. There is no sense in us dying, Alastor and I am well aware of this. Yavetil is my mate's target because James killed her mate years ago. This stands as a pretense to prove my clan is still stronger than her own even when we are the last two standing and even when she throws over two hundred lives away that we will fight to live and to survive. She wants revenge, but my mate and I know of her and her kind only too well. Her time to die is now, and I'll be damned to hell if I let her walk away alive from this."

Harry yelled this at the retired Auror while Draco stood beside him and leant a hand in comfort and support as the other watched in sadness for the tragedies their lord endured already and as Alastor seemed to understand where Harry came from now and bowed his head in resignation to agree to the wish of Lord Peverell.

"If you and the others wish to see the fighting of a dark lord and his chosen enemy first-hand between us, I suggest you eliminate any other vampires and death eaters before the fight is over. If you do, then you all finally will be able to understand why I was prophesized at my birth to defeat Riddle and why only I can do this task." Harry said sharply and with a biting undertone to his words

Harry and the blonde who they still had no name for walked in confident silence together towards where the village square had been. Alastor and Kingsley's groups merged with the remainder of Harry and Draco's to continue on in their wake of leaving to confront true evil. Their posture stood regally among the others with straight shoulders that seemed proud and tall while their faces had a determined look about them even if fear could be seen behind a mask of determination and confidence.

The remaining others watched them go and knew this was a fight they wanted to see and live past to be able to tell about, so Alastor gave clear orders to eliminate any and all rogue death eaters and vampires on sight by any means necessary. This was war, and Harry was right; it was time now to fight fire with fire.

* * *

Harry and Draco walked to the town square in silence to those fighting around them who were just behind the entryway. Harry had placed a barricade at the entry of the square so they could watch but not interfere in the fight itself. Considering they had had to fight their way there anyhow.

A female laugh was then heard and Draco whipped his wand in her direction and landed directly at her throat when she re-appeared before them.

"Now, now blondie; that's enough. I didn't come here for you, so be a good boy and move out of my way." She said as she looked at Harry and licked her lips with deranged looking eyes of freezing ice blue

Draco snarled at her threateningly, "I don't think so Linwe, as not only do you threaten Lord Peverell and break the agreement made with his clan centuries ago, you have killed people under his protection and threatened the life of my mate with your actions. I am going nowhere and you are not fighting him, but me instead." Draco snapped at her fiercely

Linwe's eyes hardened, "So you belong to our new Lord do you? Well, as payment for his father taking the life of my mate I will kill you for my retribution. Your blood being shed is payment enough for the blood his father spilled from my mate."

Draco laughed darkly, "I don't think you could kill me. You talk and act big, but your skills suck and are no better than any other vampires we fought already. Harry and I have annihilated most if not all the vampires you sent here with your new 'ally', so chances are I'll have your blood for threatening me and my mate."

Linwe stood still at the pronouncement that most of her clan was dead now and there was likely no one to aid her if she encountered trouble. Damn the dark elves! Even if they were the only two of the clan left, they still overpowered them.

"Well then let us see who wins, shall we?" She said enticingly as her tongue grazed her fangs in hunger of the blonde's blood.

Then Draco's fight with Linwe began and Tom stayed out of sight to see if she could live up to her reputation, and Harry felt no need to expose he knew Tom was there for he knew if Tom wanted his powers right now he'd have called to it, but he would have to work for it this time.

His mate and the vampire female clashed together like two human blurs at an insanely inhuman rate. The sounding of swords was heard clashing together like thunder in the air before rainfall and also the sounds of hand to hand combat, even if it was also aerial hand to hand.

"Ugh." Linwe cried as Draco slammed her body to square floor for the fourth time from mid-air.

Linwe was covered in sword marks and oozing her precious life-force away the more she fought and gained fury over her incompetence. Draco just kept attacking her as he knew he must to protect Harry and defend from her when necessary.

"You are a vampiric disgrace, Yavetil. Is this the best you can do to me? I am thoroughly disappointed in that." Draco mocked her with a smirk

She snarled in fury and tried to knock him to his feet by kicking at his legs, but Draco just punched her gut and she fell hard to the floor again.

Linwe was good at defending Draco's aerial attacks, but Draco's hand-to-hand combat was much better. It was almost seemingly superior to hers in an odd way since Vampires typically had more increased speed at night than she did.

Several times now he had knocked her over already and nearly killed her only to have her backflip or apparate away a distance. The vampire leader had not been expecting the dark elven lord's mate to be so trained already in their short time together, but she guessed the new lord was aware he had enemies from all sides and had made sure his mate could fend on his own no matter who it was.

'Damn the dark elven Peverell blood lineage.' She cursed to herself silently

Finally, Draco had knocked her over and before she could move he had immobilized her and summoned the blade Harry had gifted him with. The sword was made of a rare elven metal known as Onyx Mist ore that made the blade black as night in color and the pommel was pure silver and had a very rare gem from his clan's true homeland in it.

They were 'Misu Tirranna' gems, or otherwise known as the Rippling Water gem. It would be compared to the darkest blue sapphires at night or brightest blue aquamarines at times in the human realm but worth far more if discovered what they truly were. The gem had the power of spiritual cleansing and purification of corruption. It would glow white in the center if the power was activated to do its job and the gems inherently protected Draco's mind from intrusion as well as coercion methods.

Harry's sword was the exact opposite. It was made of the same ore and silver, but the stone was called 'Vlos Aphyon Chath' or the 'Blood-Death Fire' gem which had the opposite powers of Draco's. His sword handed out death immediately and the soul was sent to the thousand age fire instantly. Draco's would only do this if the soul was too corrupted to be saved.

Misu Tirranna would try to save the soul first and Draco would know it if was salvageable, but if not…then he had to send the soul to the thousand age fire as well.

"Linwe Yavetil, Lordess of the Shadowtrap Vampire Clan, you have desecrated a three hundred year agreement made with the Peverell clan for revenge. You have murdered people under the protective sheltering of the Peverell estate and you have threatened not only me as the mate of Lord Peverell himself, but also you have threatened the lord's life himself. Do you have any last words?" Draco snarled at her

The vampire queen hissed at him, "Rot in hell, you bastards."

Draco smirked, "Couldn't have said it better myself. You, like my aunt Bellatrix, will now suffer the flame of a thousand ages and know our pain thousands of times over before you are forgiven and let to have eternal peace." He said nastily as he embedded the blade in her heart.

A blue power erupted from the blade and the female vampire shrieked in agony as the bright blue fire torched her body and sword absorbed her soul and sent it to a place near the Void, but not exactly there.

When she was gone, the other vampires felt her death and tried to leave in fear of their own death by the two who came to destroy the dark lord and found they were no longer capable of apparating somehow. The death eaters were left defenseless without apparition too and all were killed by the remaining fighters who then gathered to watch Harry and Tom's showdown as they neared the barricade.

Tom stepped out of the shadows, "Hm. Somehow I had a feeling she was going to lose and I suppose I should have known better, but oh well; it's not as if she had been completely useless to me anyways." Tom said indifferently

Harry folded his arms over his chest in defiance, "You should have known that I don't let those who are close to me go into anything unprepared any longer. She was no match for Draco and you knew it. You used her to get to me and mine, so now you have to pay for it. There are apparition wards here now and all you vampire allies are either dead or are hiding because they too cannot escape my wrath. All the followers here that you brought are dead though, so no one will come to help you, Tom."

Tom eyed the area only to see Harry was right about the apparition wards.

"When did you put those up?" He asked curiously

Harry smirked, "Just after the barricade went up."

"I see. So you assume that apparition is the only form of travel I know besides ones I cannot access currently." He said in arrogance

Harry smiled maliciously, "Oh no Riddle, those apparition wards are for all types of species and their apparitions as well. The vampires who tried to flee will be dealt with when we are done here because I want to let them know they don't cross my land and hurt it without the payment of punishment for doing it."

Tom was internally afraid but he would not admit it.

"Very well then Lord Peverell, let's bow to death for one of us will be dead at the end of this." Tom smirked

Harry smirked back and bowed in proper dueling etiquette as he had refused to do nearly two years ago.

Then there was an explosion of colors from the others fighting.

Harry used his speed to his advantage, only to find Tom was able to see through it somehow and match it at that. No matter he would keep going. Draco stood below them as he regained his breath from his fight while Harry and Riddle were battling it out in the air. Harry likely summoned slyphs or wind spirits to allow him to be there since he had no wings like his veela form did nor did wish to exhaust himself magically by hovering too long.

Tom was really getting beat up though, as his body was fragile still from the last fight. He held his own though despite appearances.

"Ignis Acidus Loricatus" Harry yelled as his clothes seemed to be enveloped in fire that burned blue-purple but was not harming him at all.

Tom knew he could not touch Harry like that or else his skin would burn alive and if Harry touched him with the flames; it would result the same way. There was only one way to get rid of it but it was tricky and he doubted he was going to be given an opening to do it.

"What's the matter Tom, are you scared to fight fire against fire now?" Harry asked him with a scathing tone

This was done as Harry sent several cutting hexes and laceration curses his way in succinct succession of the others. The dark lord was at loss as to how truly skilled Harry become and knew not if he would be able to beat the child turned man from prophecy.

"I didn't come here to prove who was better in this war and I never asked to be a part of it. Only I was forced to be because of my destiny and fate for the world. I came for justice against my clan and death of my parents at your hands nearly seventeen years ago." Harry told him as the beginning of the sunset made him appear intensely intimidating with the blue-purple fire surrounding his figure and spitting at Tom.

"Imagine, two adults who tried to save their only baby who had done no wrong to you other than be born. An innocent infant who you wanted annihilated because of the words spoken of him and not knowing or chancing they could be true." Harry said angrily as Tom feared the energy pouring from Harry now

"You brought yourself to your own end Tom because you decided to kill me when the prophecy could have been ignored and this was never to occur. When I destroy you for what you've done, all your horcruxes including the one inside of me will be destroyed in a single two words and your soul will never walk this plain ever again or else I hunt it down and obliterate it." Harry said coldly

The wand pointed at Tom as the dark lord stood there in shock to the energy around Harry as if he was too afraid to move. The fact was, he couldn't move, and Harry had him trapped by his wards and immobilization. His war was over and he was going to die.

"I hope you burn forever in hell for what you've done." Harry snarled.

Then instead of the killing curse being sent to him as suspected, Harry drew his sword and activated the thousand age fire before plunging the blade into his middle. Riddle screamed in agony to the pain of the fire just as Yavetil did from Draco's sword.

The blood red energy torched his body to ash and sucked his soul into it. Harry held the sword in his hand like a life-line because if he let go, the horcrux in him would not get sucked out and he would die here too. He wasn't going to let this happen.

After ten minutes of flaring power, seven black orbs had been brought to the sword and absorbed before the energy died. When the color died away, Harry's mouth had blood in the corner and he was coughing badly.

He released the barricade as Draco hauled his body over his back and prepared to leave to tend to him.

"Wait!" a woman's voice called

He turned to see Lady Grishwell and nodded.

"He's gone, isn't he?" She asked

Draco smiled tiredly, "My mate has ended his war with the dark lord, but his battles are far from over yet."

She let tears show, "Thank you for your help. None of us would be left if not for the two of you."

"There is no need, as my mate said. You were under his protection and so we came to aid you. Now we must go as Harry will need my attention to his injuries." He said

Alastor stepped forward, "It's hard to believe the boy I jinxed in his fourth year has turned out this way considering the speculations on him due to his late family. I am sure you will be fine together, but please, take care of him now since his most important job is done and he deserves a rest. Albus is getting desperate and the destruction of the horcrux means Harry will have more freedom if allowed which the headmaster sadly wants to eliminate for one who has just saved us all."

Draco's eyes hardened at this, "I cannot apologize for my family's past actions and allegiances because they would not want it to ever occur. They believed they fought for what they ideally wanted, and I respect this as you should even if they were wrong. But, I also believe when the time is right; I will have set a new reputation for it and they will accept it. Harry is all I have now and I am all he has besides those he considers friends and family to him much like I do, so there is no one who would threaten him before me and get away with it. You have my word, Alastor."

The tired and haggard former auror seemed satisfied by that, "Make sure you remember that. Or else."

"Alastor, can you do Harry and I a favor. I need you and Kingsley to go to the manor to see the people who might need more than basic medical care there. Harry and I were supposed to do this, but right now Harry needs my immediate attention and the Manor is not where I need to take him right now?" Draco asked

The elder man seemed to know what Draco had meant in that and nodded slowly.

"Take Harry there now Draco, as time is short and he will be needed again soon enough." He agreed

The others gasped and seemed shocked to hear the name Draco come from Alastor. Did that mean Harry was mated to Draco Malfoy? The same boy they knew of as the son of the late Lord Lucius Malfoy and Lady Narcissa Malfoy? The same man who was once a follower of the recently deceased dark lord and claimed to be his most trusted right hand?

Had their mission leader known and covered it up to keep them from knowing so they could focus better? Or had he thought it was best left unsaid till now?

Draco smiled softly and started running inhumanly fast towards somewhere eastward from there whilst carrying Harry's comatose body over his shoulder gently.

Amid the background of the setting sun, houses still smoking from the burning they received and ashes everywhere with the smell of death; the people who fought watched their two salvations exit with a new smile knowing there was still hope despite the destruction they caused in retaliation for what their enemies had caused.

They had witnessed two miracles today. The first was only fifteen people, all villagers, had died despite they arrived late as much as the aurors with the order did. The second was that the first part of the war was over and they had all watched and witnessed a boy who they thought would never finish the job meet his destiny as an adult man and fulfill it. Then walk away without asking for anything for himself and his mate in return.

It was a sight many would remember and one many would keep in mind if they ever needed help again.


End file.
